


Secret Poison

by Pan (Lucky_Cassandra)



Category: Linked Universe - Fandom, The Legend of Zelda & Related Fandoms
Genre: Angst, Blood, Injury
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-24
Updated: 2020-01-19
Packaged: 2020-07-19 04:37:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 26,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19968160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lucky_Cassandra/pseuds/Pan
Summary: Twilight knew fighting in wolf form was more exhausting and dangerous. The lack of weapons and armour were drawbacks which left him often bruised and battered, not to mention the awful taste at the back of his throat after every battle which took away his appetite, but the advantages given by his wolf senses were invaluable and had saved his life and those of his companions more than once. The pain and other inconveniences of the transformation were but a small price to pay for the safety of his friends.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> More Twilight/Wolfie angst. Not sorry.
> 
> Many thanks to Okami_no_fude, my talented friend full of knowledge, ideas and head canons.
> 
> And of course to Jojo56830 for creating this amazing universe.

"Hello there, welcome back, nice of you to join us now that the fight is over."

Twilight hid a wince at the harshness in Warriors' voice, and fell back on his usual well-rehearsed response of fake surprise.

"I was scouting ahead, I met a couple of bokoblins and just finished getting rid of them, what happened? Is everyone all right?" he asked.

"Oh, just five or six possessed moblins, don't worry about _us_ ," interjected Legend, snarky as usual. "Thanks for the lookout, by the way. Fat good your scouting ahead does."

Twilight remained silent and kneeled next to Sky to help him bandage his sword arm, bleeding from two knife wounds. He didn't look at Four or Wild, he didn't want to see the sympathetic looks they were probably giving him. They at least knew he hadn't been slacking off. He knew he couldn't take offense at this kind of comments thrown his way, they were understandable, but they still stung a bit.

"Have any of you seen Wolfie after the fight ended?" came Wind's worried voice. "He was here fighting with us, and I saw him take quite a hit when one of those moblins took a vicious swing with that club. Did any of you see him leave? I hope he was all right."

"What?" Time asked, getting up from where he was sitting next to Hyrule. "Wolfie was hit? Are you sure?" 

Twilight carefully avoided to look up from where he was tending to Sky's wounds. He knew Time would be looking at him now, and curiously enough he felt like a kid being called out while stealing an extra slice of cake. All he could do was sit in silence and listen to Wind describe in detail The Clubbing of Wolfie. That kid had a gift with words, Twilight could feel the pain in his side flaring up again as he listened. Of course, it didn't help that the pain had never really gone away in the first place. Shifting with cracked ribs had _not_ been pleasant.

Twilight was roused from his thoughts by Sky's soft voice. "Are you ok? You look pale." Startled, the Ordonian looked up at the Skyloftian and quickly gave a small smile. "I'm fine, don't worry about me, I was just lost in thought. Worry about yourself, these cuts look nasty. maybe you should have a potion." 

Sky shrugged. "We don't have many left, this is really not enough to warrant one."

They were interrupted by a voice from across the fire Wild had just lit. "Well, Twilight, since you're obviously the best rested of us, you can take first watch," Warriors said with a smirk. Out of the corner of his eye, Twilight saw the Cub draw breath to say something, and quickly cut him off. "Yes, of course, I was planning to." And he was. The attack had come unexpectedly and had unnerved them all. Twilight wanted to make sure nothing would sneak up on them, and his wolf instincts and sense of smell were still the best defence against ambushes and surprise attacks.

Which was why he fought so much in wolf form lately, even if it was more exhausting and dangerous. The lack of weapons and armour were drawbacks which left him often bruised and battered, not to mention the awful taste at the back of his throat after every battle which took away his appetite, but the advantages given by his wolf senses were invaluable and had saved his life and those of his companions more than once. The pain and other inconveniences of the transformation were but a small price to pay for the safety of his friends.

Of course, shifting so often was dangerous. His ability had to remain a secret, as Midna had so carefully hammered into him. It came from a brand of dark magic, used a dark artifact, left traces of Twili magic on _him._ It could have been misinterpreted, misunderstood. It was dangerous. Midna had always taken much better care of his secret than he did, never letting him transform if anyone was in visual range. He shuddered to imagine what she would think if she knew three of his travel companions knew of it already.

That was also odd. He had no idea how Time knew, but it seemed he had always known and Twilight had never questioned it. After all, the Hero's Shade could turn into the golden wolf, but Twilight still had no clue if the old man had that ability already or if he knew of what would come. That was a can of worms he had no intention of opening yet, and a rather painful rabbit hole for his thoughts to fall into, so he tried to steer clear.

Four... that had been carelessness on his part, but he was slightly justified. He had shifted to wolf form when he was sure he was alone, and he had immediately smelled Four nearby. He had turned, and for the first time in his life his eyes and sense of smell told him two different stories. The smith's smell was _right there_ , but he couldn't see anything. He had taken a few cautious steps, following his nose and fully expecting to find Four's discarded headband or something, when his nose had bumped into something small and warm hidden in the grass which _reeked_ of Four and… then there had been the smith himself just in front of him , breathing heavily with a scared and shocked look on his face. "Don't eat me, it's me, it's me!" he had yelled. It turned out he was not the only one with hidden abilities.

The oddest of all was Wild. The Cub has known it was him the first time Twi had showed up around camp in wolf form, and hadn't even acted surprised. Wild had just followed him with his eyes the whole time, with an intense stare that had unnerved the Ordonian a little. After that, it had just felt normal that Wild knew, and they had never discussed it. Too many strange things in their lives to discuss them all, Twilight figured.

Everyone was settling down for the night and Twilight was getting ready to make a sweep of the perimeter before beginning his watch when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned to find the old man looking earnestly at him. "Pup, are you all right?" Time asked quietly. "That club must have done some damage. Did you take a potion? You didn't even have much to eat."

Twilight waved Time's words away with his hand. "I'm fine. You should know better than to believe a pirate's tale, it's no better than a fisherman's tale," he said with a crooked smile. "And I just wasn't hungry. That black blood tasted _foul_ ," he added with a grimace.

Time looked unconvinced. "I know we are running a bit low on potions, but really, there is no need to play the hero here."

Twilight laughed. "You're in the wrong company for that, old man."

Time gave a reluctant smile. "You know what I mean. Just be careful."

Twi didn't like lying to Time, but it wasn't really a lie. The pain in his ribs was manageable. Until he shifted again, which he knew he would have to do soon. But he couldn't bind his ribs now, how would he justify it to the others? He would just have to endure.


	2. Chapter 2

Everybody was asleep, the forest around the camp site was quiet. This was the moment for an attack if there ever was one, so now was the time for a sweep of the perimeter. Twilight stood from his perch at the edge of the clearing where he could keep an eye on everything, and moved behind the trees where he could shift.

He braced himself for the pain for a second, then shifted. He bit back on the whine that almost escaped him when his bruised ribs rearranged. His muscles were still sore from the fight earlier, a run would help with that. He closed his eyes for a second, letting his wolf instincts take over, then he set off at a run.

He immediately sensed something moving through the trees and made a beeline for it. _Moblins_ , two of them. He recognized their stench. Possessed, tainted, whatever these black-blooded monsters were. He sprang to attack as soon as he had one in his field of view, aiming straight for its neck and biting down as hard as he could. The foul taste of the darkened blood immediately overpowered his senses, but Twilight fought back the urge to gag and held on, using his momentum to take the beast down. The moblin kept struggling and kicking viciously far longer than normal, while the other moblin was moving in. The wolf held on as long as he could, until the other moblin lifted his weapon. Twilight had then no choice but to let go and jump out of the way. The injured moblin quickly got up and moved to attack, while it's comrade moved to the wolf's other side. 

This was getting dangerous, Twilight didn't like his odds if his best efforts had not killed the first monster yet. He decided to try to finish off the wounded one, and lunged again, lightning quick, closing his teeth on the side of the wound and tearing it open further. The moblin didn't fall, this time, and managed to get it's hands around Twi's front paws, pulling hard enough to almost dislocate his shoulder. The wolf grit his teeth into the monster's flesh and twisted his head, finally managing to force it to its knees. After that, the struggle only lasted a few more seconds.

After the first moblin finally went down, Twilight paused a fraction of a second too long and was forcefully reminded of the second moblin by a club to his side, his _already banged up side._ He landed hard and struggled for breath as he got to his feet and lunged, claws slicing through flesh as his teeth closed on the monster's arm. The moblin dropped his club in surprise, but raised his other arm and _raked_ his own claws against the wolf's muzzle. Dazed by the burning pain, Twilight dropped to the ground into a crouch, searching for an opening to attack again. A wide swing of the monster's flailing arms gave him the split second he needed, and with a swift leap closed his teeth on the creature's neck. The foul stench of the black blood filled his senses again, making him lightheaded, but Twilight managed to hold on until the second monster joined the first in the dirt. 

Panting, the wolf got shakily to his feet and realised quickly he needed help. Blood was dripping from his muzzle, his breathing was laboured and painful and he felt weak and nauseous. Trying to calm his pounding heart, Twilight braced himself to shift again. He couldn't walk into camp like this, but changing when this injured was going to be _bad_. He closed his eyes, clenched his teeth and shifted.

***

Time sat up gasping. He wasn't sure what had woken him up so suddenly, it might have been a sound, or movement in the camp. He looked around, trying to blink sleep out of his eyes. He immediately noticed two things: no one was apparently on watch, and Wild, Legend and Warriors had also woken up at the same exact moment.

"What woke us up?" Time asked.

"I thought I heard something?" Warriors answered. "It sounded like somewhere between a howl and a scream? Maybe an animal."

"Where is Twilight?" Wild jumped up, frantically moving to put his boots on.

_Pup._

Time jumped to his feet and started picking up the pieces of his armour, buckling them hastily into place. "Legend," he said, "take watch. Warriors, with me. Wild…" Time turned to look at the Cub, and found him already dressed and ready, pale but with a very determined look on his face. "...I guess three of us are going."

***

Warriors was irritated. Twilight, with his obsession with scouting alone, was going to get them into trouble one of these days. They had woken up to find him missing, and Wild and Time were freaking out as if they had heard him calling for help. But Warriors was sure he had heard an animal, the sound that had roused him had not been hylian, he was sure of that. Twilight was probably just doing one of his "sweeps", as he called them, and they would run into him soon enough probably giving him a well-deserved heart attack in the process.

Or so Warriors hoped.

An hour later, after going around camp in widening circles, they still hadn't found any trace of Twilight, and Warriors was starting to worry. As much as that brawny Ordinian got on his nerves sometimes, the knight knew Twilight would never willingly do anything to put any of his friends in danger. If he had disappeared like this while everyone was sleeping something had definitely happened.

Wild, who had been a paragon of military efficiency up to this point, was moving closer and closer to open panic. Warriors could see his hands were shaking and his face had gone deathly white. Time must have noticed too, because he placed a hand on Wild's shoulder.

"We'll find him," Time said firmly. But his mouth was set in a grimace and his face was a mask of worry. 

"There!" Wild suddenly yelled, and disappeared between the trees. The other two quickly followed, and found Wild kneeling on the ground next to what was unmistakably corrupted black blood. They began searching the area and found more black blood and traces of a fight. Broken branches, long gouges in the dirt, a huge discarded club on the ground. Whatever had fought here, it had been big. At least a moblin, judging from the size of the abandoned club. Two, possibly, as there seemed to be a lot of blood scattered around. Five of these had been a match for eight of them earlier, Warriors didn't like to think of Twilight having to go up against two of them alone.

Then they saw him.

He was lying on his side, almost face down, bloody and dirty and _terribly still_. Warriors' blood turned to ice in his veins. Wild was already on his knees beside the Ordonian, turning him over. Time moved Twilight's hair away from his face, uncovering what appeared to be deep and jagged claw marks that ran from his temple down to his chin.

"He's breathing, but it's shallow and uneven. Warriors, a fairy and a potion." Time's voice was shaking. "Then we need to get his tunic off to check for other damage."

Warriors' training finally kicked in, and he moved quickly, pulling supplies out of his pack. The fairy flew around Twi's chest and head several times before flying away. Warriors and Time gently removed Twilight's tunic and chainmail, laying him down again with his head in Wild's lap. Wild slowly poured a red potion down his throat while cleaning the gashes on his face with a wet cloth.

Warrior's breath caught as he took in the extent of bruising on Twi's chest, side and shoulder. "Probably cracked ribs, possibly a dislocated shoulder." His hands gently poked and prodded as he assessed for damage.

Then Warriors noticed something else. The bruising on his ribs was two different colors, an apparently older purplish bruise peeking from below the newer black and red one. With a sharp intake of breath he realised what that meant.

"He was already injured before this. This bruise is older, but not by much. When did this happen?" He asked.

Warriors felt Time stiffen beside him. "He said… something about… running into a couple of bokos," he said haltingly.

Warriors' stomach dropped. He remembered Twilight saying that, but he had been so annoyed with Twi missing the fight that he hadn't really thought about that. He hadn't even asked if the Ordonian was all right before attempting to guilt him into taking first watch. And Twilight had, without a complaint. Just as tired as the rest of them, wounded, alone. Warriors felt sick.

"He is not waking up, could he have a concussion? The potion is starting to work, the claw marks have stopped bleeding and are starting to close," Wild asked. 

"Possibly," Time answered, "though we found no trace of a hit to the head."

What Wild said next was so quiet Warriors almost missed it. "Could it be the tainted blood?" he asked in a whisper.

"What, the black blood? No," Warriors interjected. "None of us ever had any problems from touching that blood. It's not like he _drank_ any."

Wild and Time both sharply turned to look at him, then back down at Twilight. "We need to get him back to camp, quickly," Wild said. 

"Agreed. Warriors, help me make a litter with those branches. We can't carry him any other way with cracked ribs, we would risk damage to the lungs," Time said. "Wild, take the bandages Warriors brought and try to bind his ribs in the meantime. We have to make it as easy as possible for him to breathe."

No more words were exchanged as they all set to work in tense silence.


	3. Chapter 3

By the time Wild, Time and Warriors had come back with Twilight, Legend had been joined around the fire by Four and Hyrule, while Sky and Wind were still sleeping and only woke when the other heroes returned. A horrified silence fell on the camp as each hero took in the bruised and bloody form of their unconscious friend. Hyrule was the first to move.

"What happened? Have you treated him already? How…" Hyrule fell silent again and kneeled next to Twilight where Warriors and Time were putting him carefully down by the fire. Legend could finally take a good look at him. Twilight's bandaged and bruised torso coupled with his laboured and shallow breathing were worrying, but what made Legend's throat constrict were the gashes on his face, clearly made by _claws_.

_Goddessdamn claws_ , attached to a huge monster, close enough to his friend to do _something like that_.

Bruising could be made by weapons, not so close, non so _personal_. The idea of a monster getting near enough to Twilight, to any of his friends, to use _claws_ to tear into their flesh was sickening.

"We are not sure," Time said, his strained voice pulling Legend out of his spiralling thoughts. "We think he ran into at least a moblin, but we only found signs of a fight and him already unconscious."

_Sweet Hylia, a moblin?_ Legend dug his fingernails into his palms to keep from losing what was left of his composure. He couldn't break down in front of the whole group.

"Has he not regained consciousness at all yet?" Hyrule asked. "I can try a healing spell."

"Please do. The potion we gave him and the fairy worked, but apparently they weren't enough," Time said.

Hyrule closed his eyes to concentrate for a second, then muttered something under his breath. The air around him seemed to get lighter, and then Twilight took a deep breath and moaned as he exhaled. Hyrule leaned forward and spoke softly.

"Twi? Can you hear me?" 

Twilight's face contorted into a grimace, then he started coughing. A dark viscous liquid appeared on his lips.

"Quick, help me turn him on his side," Hyrule said. "He's throwing up."

Wild was by his side in an instant and together they gently turned Twilight on his side as he coughed up more of the black substance. Time gently brushed the hair off his protegè's face.

"This looks like old blood. He didn't have a stomach wound, did he? His breathing was shallow and uneven but there was no liquid in his lungs, it can't come from there," Time said.

"It can't be blood, it looks… corrupted. Cursed." Hyrule said. "Whatever it is those monsters has can't infect us, can it?" 

"He can't have been tainted," Legend spoke up, trying to reassure himself as much as his friends. "We would know if he was. Those monsters are empowered by it, not sickened."

"And yet, this black stuff…" Hyrule said hesitatingly, before fading off into silence.

Twilight had finished throwing up and moaned again as his friends lay him back down. As his eyes fluttered open, Time moved closer, gesturing to the others to give them some space. Everyone complied except Wild who grasped Twilight's hand.

"Pup?" Time asked "How are you feeling?"

Twilight blinked a few times. He was still very pale and had dark circles under his eyes. "Wha… wha happn'?" 

"You're going to have to tell us that. We found you in the forest, signs of a fight around you," Time said gently.

Twilight's eyes slid shut again. "Righ'. Two mblins'," he mumbled. "Movin' in."

_Two_ moblins. With their Hylia-damned claws close enough to dig into Twilight's flesh. Legend wanted to cry, but could only react like he always did, by lashing out. "How on earth did you let two _goddessdamn huge_ moblins come close enough to you to _take a swipe at your face?_ " he blurted out. "What were you, picking daisies?"

Twilight seemed to tighten his jaw for a second, then opened his eyes again and looked a lot more alert. Guarded. Legend hated himself for putting that look on Twi's face. "Got distracted by one. Turned to find the other closer than I thought," Twilight answered. He then tried to sit up, but winced when he put his weight on his bad shoulder. Wild's hands moved to support his back.

"Easy, you're pretty banged up. Shoulder and ribs, as well as the face, from what we could tell," Wild said. "Is there something else we should know about?"

Legend thought he saw Twilight give Wild a strange look, but he just shook his head. 

With Twilight awake and the sun close to the horizon, the atmosphere lifted, especially when Wild declared breakfast was in order, and no one could say no to that.

Strangely enough, the lightening of the mood had not reached Warriors. He had yet to utter a word and was was sitting to a side, a vacant look on his face. Legend figured he could snark his friend back to his usual self and moved to sit next to him.

"What's up, pretty boy, missed on your beauty sleep?" Legend was expecting a whole range of answers, but definitely not the one he got. Warriors just turned his eyes to Legend briefly, then went back to staring into space.

"Aww, come on, I'm sure we can let you take a nap, we can't have that pretty face too pale, it clashes with the pretty scarf," Legend continued. "Though the circles under your eyes can match the scarf if we work on it some more."

Just as he said that, Legend realised Warriors _did_ look pale, more than he should have given the circumstances. True, he hadn't gotten much sleep, but neither had anyone else, and honestly, as much as Legend liked to tease the pretty boy, he knew he was way tougher than that.

But more worrying was that Warriors still hadn't risen to the bait. 

"Come on, I can help you polish your armour, this way the light reflecting off it can match the light reflecting off your bright smile."

Warriors turned his eyes to Legend again, this time with a hint of a smile. "Thanks, I see what you are trying to do, but I'm not in the mood."

"Trying to do? Annoy you to tears, is what I am trying to do. And you're no fun," Legend answered loudly. He then gave Warriors a side glance, and saw him sigh. 

That made Legend cave. "What's wrong?" he asked softly. "Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," was the only answer.

"You most definitely are _not_. I haven't seen you mope this way since the first time Wind hid your scarf and you thought you had lost it."

Warriors gave a slightly more genuine smile at that, then his face fell again.

"I've always considered myself a good soldier, a good _comrade_. Someone who looks out for his companions, takes care of them, sees when something is wrong."

Legend was confused. "You are the _epitome_ of the good soldier, so what?"

Warriors sighed again. "If I really was, I wouldn't have failed Twilight so badly."

Legend's confusion only grew. "I don't get it, what would you have to do with what happened?"

"Twilight didn't fight with us, yesterday, but he was still in a fight. Alone. He was injured. Not only did I not ask about it, I nastily saddled him with first watch."

Legend was stunned. Twilight was injured? He had seemed fine. True, he did move a bit stiffly, but Legend had thought that was because they were nagging him about sitting out on the fight, and he was just acting all offended. If Legend had known, he wouldn't have…

But now was not the time for his own guilt trip. That could come later.

"Well, it's his own fault for not speaking up, not yours. You can't read minds, last I checked. No point in beating yourself over it now," Legend said. "He's going to be all right. He's strong." He added gently, putting a hand on Warriors' shoulder. 

They were distracted by the sounds of hacking behind them coupled with cries of alarm.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok, no action in this chapter, but I'm warming up for the next.

Time wasn't sure if it was a trick of the early morning light, but Twilight's face looked almost green as Four and Sky helped him back down on his bed roll. He had coughed up more of that dark, viscous substance, hopefully the last bit of it. It was now painfully obvious to Time what that stuff was and how it had ended up in Twilight's stomach, but what he didn't understand was why it seemed to be affecting Twi so badly now, all of a sudden. Why had the dark blood never made him sick before? What was different now? Had something changed in the monsters and their powers? Or had Twilight just accidentally swallowed more this time around?

They needed answers to these questions, but more importantly they needed to make sure his protegè was going to be fine. Time studied Twilight carefully. He was sitting up now, carefully sipping on the tea Sky had made. He was still pale and had his left arm carefully and stiffly wrapped around his middle, clear sign that his shoulder was still painful. His breathing had eased, though, which was a blessing with all the hacking he had done. The claw marks on his face were fading quickly, and were thankfully only angry red welts now. Hopefully they wouldn't scar too bad. Time breathed. They had been lucky. Again. He could only hope their luck held out.

Time's eyes flicked back to his protegè's face, and he noticed something else. Twilight was ill at ease. He really didn't like when he was out of commission, Time knew, he was worse even than Wild about letting others take care of him. Time knew all about that feeling of crushing responsibility, about the need to take charge and protect others, about the sheer impossibility of taking a break even when it was desperately needed, and dearly wished Twilight wouldn't feel it so keenly. Time wished he could explain to his Pup that he was allowed a moment of weakness, sometimes, that he didn't have to be strong for them all the time, but he didn't know how, not when he was so bad at it himself.

He knew the thing Twilight probably wanted most right now was for things to get back to a semblance of normalcy, for everyone to stop fussing over him. This Time could deliver. After all, if his protegè was feeling better, it was time for some answers anyway.

Twilight looked up and his eyes met Time's as he moved to kneel next to the fire. Twi tried to get up, then, but very obviously swayed as his eyes slipped shut for a second. Time caught him before he could faceplant in the dirt.

"Easy, Pup, no need to stand up yet. Wait until you managed to eat something and keep it down," Time said gently as he helped Twi back on the bed roll. 

"I know you want to talk, Old man," Twilight mumbled, obviously still fighting his dizziness.

"We can do it right here, no need to go anywhere," Time said softly. "First things first. How are you feeling? The _truth_ this time, please."

"This time?"

"We saw the bruising, it was two different colors. I know you walked into last night's fight with already bruised ribs," Time said, his voice taking on a slight edge. "It was needlessly dangerous."

Twilight's jaw tightened for a second, then he spoke again grimly. "I was fine, just a little sore. Besides," he added softly, "the others needed rest more than I did."

Time's heart clenched painfully in his chest. "Pup, you _need_ to take care of yourself as well. You are no help to anyone if you hurt yourself."

A pained look flickered in Twilight's eyes, quickly replaced by a more guarded look. It physically pained Time to see his Pup closing off from _him_ , that was the last thing he wanted. He sighed, knowing now there were more pressing issues to address, then spoke again, more quietly.

"What happened? Were these monsters any different? Their blood has never made you sick before."

"I don't know," Twilight admitted, his eyes dropping to his hands where they were clenched in his lap. "I just must have swallowed some. I'm usually careful not to, this time I just must have."

Time felt something was off, like Twilight was not telling him something. "I think you better avoid fighting these empowered monsters in wolf form, at least until we know more about them."

Twilight looked up sharply. "But I'm stronger, more _efficient_ as a wolf," he whispered fiercely. "I can sense more things, I can sense them from further away."

"You are also more vulnerable, even without swallowing any of the cursed blood," Time answered, "it's easier for you to get hurt. Don't think I haven't noticed that." 

Twilight frowned and looked down again. "There is… so much more at stake now. It's not only me on the line. I… can't…" he whispered brokenly. 

Time placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "We are a strong bunch, we look out for each other. But that also means letting others look out for you as well. Besides, I can guarantee you are more than enough as yourself."

Twilight exhaled shakily. Time hoped he could take that as a good sign. "Now, let's see if Wild's cooking can get you back on your feet."

***

Now that Twilight had gotten up, supported by Time, and had actually managed to eat something, Wild felt the painful knot of tension in his gut ease slightly. True, Twi hadn't eaten much before grimacing and pushing his plate away, but to be fair he hadn't been eating much lately anyway.

Wild never liked to waste food, but he loved to eat to his heart's content, and he expected his friends to love it too. He spent a long time, after he started cooking for the whole gang, figuring out exactly how much he needed to make to be sure everyone had enough but there was no waste.

But then he had started getting leftovers again, increasing amounts, even though he kept making the same portions. It hadn't taken long to figure out Twilight was eating less and less. Wild had wondered about his friend's dwindling appetite, but he had never really confronted Twilight about it apart from some teasing, it hadn't seemed necessary. After all, Twi had dropped the occasional offhand comment about the horrible taste at the back of his mouth, after fighting as a wolf, that put him off food, and that was not something that could be discussed freely.

This time, though, it was obvious Twilight hadn't recovered from his fight yet and was still feeling sick. Wild had seen the dark, viscous substance his friend had coughed up, and had exchanged a look with Time which told him the old man had recognized what it was as well. So this time, Twilight must have actually _swallowed_ some of the monsters' cursed blood while in wolf form, so that must have…

Cold dread clutched Wild's insides. Everything fell suddenly into place, all the hints he should have pieced together earlier. That blood was tainted, _cursed_ , it had always reminded him way too much of the malice he had seen time and time again during his long quest. While fighting in wolf form, Twilight was exposed to it so much more than the rest of them. He was not feeling suddenly sick today for the first time, he had _slowly been poisoned by it for weeks._ And had probably been aware of it. And hiding it. That would explain why he ate less and less, why he was so much paler than the rest of them lately, why he sometimes lagged behind after long days of walking when he usually was so much stronger than everyone else.

Wild looked up to where Time and Twilight were talking again, the old man standing in front of Twi who was sitting on a rock and… putting his gear back on? Surely not. He walked briskly up to the two heroes.

"What do you think you're doing with that battle gear? I don't think we can move on just yet, you are _still injured_ ," Wild hissed, half turning to Time as he spoke, expecting back up.

"Cub, this area has proven quite dangerous already," Twilight said calmly. "Two attacks in the space of a few hours are not a good sign. We need to move away from here as soon as possible."

Wild _hated_ how reasonable that sounded, _hated_ that Time wasn't objecting, which meant he probably agreed, and most of all he _hated_ the dark circles around Twi's determined eyes, in which he now read far too much.

"Besides, I'm fine, Cub."

That did it.

"You most definitely are _not_ ," Wild hissed, trying but not really caring to keep the conversation between the three of them. "We all saw you throwing up, earlier, and I am quite sure at least some of us understood what happened. And don't even try that," he cut Twi off as he drew breath to speak, "I now know exactly why you have been eating less and less. That stuff is _poisoning you_."

In the stunned silence that followed, Time's quiet whisper was as loud as a shout. "You have been sick before?"

Before Twilight could answer, the world around them shifted.


	5. Chapter 5

Hyrule sighed as he let himself relax in the hot water of the spring. He wasn't fond of bodies of water in general, but he had to admit warm springs had their perks. They had found themselves in Twilight's Hyrule after the last time jump or whatever that was, near Kakariko village. The Ordonian hadn't seemed as happy as the others would have expected, but he had guided them into the village in search of supplies and a place to rest. When Wind has heard there was a hot spring above the village, he had forced Twilight to take him there and dragged as many of them as he could manage up the mountain for a soak. Legend, Warriors, Sky and Wild has stayed behind to buy supplies and arrange accommodation for the night. This was a safe place where they could rest, and they all needed it. They were all tired and sore from the previous day's battle and subsequent lack of sleep, as well as unnerved by two attacks in such a short time.

Four in particular seemed ill at ease. He was sitting to a side, having taken only a quick dip in the water before climbing out again. Time was sitting with his armour and boots off soaking his feet in the water next to where Twi was lounging, while Wind was splashing around enthusiastically trying to get them all to join him.

Hyrule climbed out of the water and moved to sit next to Four, pulling his tunic back on.

"Are you all right?" he asked. "You look like you are sitting on a bee hive."

Four looked at him and smiled, but the smile didn't quite reach his eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just tired, I think. My brain is going around in circles."

"Anything I can help you with?" Hyrule asked. "Maybe just saying things aloud might help?"

Four hesitated. He grimaced, looking away, then turned back to his friend.

"Do you think Twilight... has recovered? Do you think he looks fine?"

Hyrule blinked in surprise at the question, and his thoughts immediately jumped to something that had been on his mind for a while. He had always sensed magic around Twilight, which never made sense because Twi often repeated he didn't like magic and magic items. What's more, the magic that seemed to surround the Ordonian and color his aura was strange, kind of dark, nothing Hyrule had ever encountered before. 

What was even stranger, Twilight's magical aura had been slightly changing over the last few weeks, now Hyrule was sure of it. The change had been so gradual and subtle that he hadn't been sure it was even happening until the night before, when Twi had been carried back to camp injured and unconscious. His aura had been decidedly darker then, and hadn't changed back after he had recovered.

Or so it seemed to Hyrule. He often doubted his ability to use and read magic, he was no expert after all. He had considered asking for Legend's opinion, as the older hero was very knowledgeable in magic, but not only did he not know how to introduce the subject, but it felt like an invasion of Twilight's privacy to talk behind his back like that. They all had things they would rather not share, after all.

Hyrule shook himself mentally. This was hardly what Four was talking about now. 

"Well, his wounds were fortunately not too serious, but to be honest I was surprised to see him get so sick when he woke up," Hyrule answered. "He apparently had no stomach wound, nothing that would warrant that kind of reaction, but I imagine a club to the middle would still leave some damage. I'm sure the potions cleared him up, though."

Four spoke again, haltingly. "Do you think... the tainted blood of those monsters... is strong enough to have... infected him?"

"Four, none of us ever had a problem with it, and we clean it off our weapons all the time..."

"But what if he had... had more contact with it than we normally do?"

"Is there something I should know? I can't help if I don't know everything."

"What if he had… accidentally…. swallowed some of it?"

" _What?_ "

Four, who had been looking intently into Hyrule's eyes as he spoke, now looked down and frowned. "Forget it," he said, "I think seeing him so sick just got to me, I'm just worried."

"Don't be, he looks all better now, doesn't he?"

Hyrule and Four both turned back to look at Twilight where he was soaking in the warm spring. He was sitting in the shallow water, his legs drawn up and his back against a rock, with his arms loosely resting on his knees. While his posture was relaxed, his face was not. His eyes were closed, but he was frowning as if deep in thought. The claw marks had almost completely faded from his face, leaving white scars barely visible against his pale skin.

_He does still look paler than normal,_ Hyrule thought.

As they were still looking at Twilight, a horn sounded in the distance, quickly followed by another closer one. Twilight's eyes snapped open as his shoulders tensed.

"Bulblins. Coming towards the village. Get your weapons ready," he said.

***

The sounds of the horns were closing in much too fast for them to have time for more than grabbing their tunics, boots and weapons. By the time they reached the bottom of the cliff, the fighting had already started. 

There were about 15 Bulblins mounted on large horned boars, some carrying spears and some armed with bows and arrows, trying to push the heroes back towards the centre of the village. Wild was positioned on the roof of a building, firing volley after volley of arrows. Legend and Warriors were visible working together back to back in the midst of the horde of monsters, fire blasts and sword moving symmetrically in a kind of dance. Sky was wielding the Master sword, swinging her in deadly arcs of light.

The battle was already brutal, fast and messy. Four's tactical side took over and forced him to pause and assess the situation before moving forward. He put out a hand to stop Wind and Hyrule from joining the fray.

"Hold up," he told them, "those boars are massive. With our size, we must go for the unmounted monsters. Look, Wild is aiming mainly for their steeds, both to help us out and because it takes less arrows to stop a boar than one of those bulblins. Look."

Wind and Hyrule turned to where Four was pointing. The bulblin that Sky was fighting had no less than three arrows through the neck and head, sprouting black blood, but seemed to be hardly bothered by it.

Wind whistled. "You took that all in and analyzed it with a single look?"

Four smirked and twirled his sword. "Try to go one on one, but be fast on your feet because they all have long range weapons. Try to go for the ones with bows first, keep your back where Wild can see it, stay away from the boars." He moved to where Time was fighting two bulblins. _Thanks, Vio,_ he thought.

Fighting as Four got distracting sometimes. His mind pulled him in different directions at once. He was trying to stay focused on the monster in front of him, but he was also distractingly angry that these monsters would attack _a village_ , he was keeping track of what his friends were doing just out of his field of vision, but most of all, he was painfully aware of Time fighting with no armour just to his right. _No armour._ When his fighting style was so based on heavy, slow, powerful blows which left him open for long moments. Time _needed_ his armour.

Fortunately, the bulblin he was fighting was wielding a bow, which made him useless in close-range combat. Unfortunately, it was strong and fast and empowered by whatever that stuff in its blood was. By the time the monster finally went down and _stayed_ down, Four was panting. 

He turned to find the old man had disposed of his bulblin and was turning towards a spear-wielding monster. "Leave this one to me," Time said, "take the one behind it." 

Four studied the monster's wide thrusts for a moment, then, with perfect timing, ran, ducked and rolled between its legs, using his momentum to come up standing in front of another bulblin. The monster swayed to a side to avoid Four's sword, raising his spear, and quickly the two were locked in battle, a dance of thrusts, side-steps, swings and dodges. A very loud part of his mind was yelling at him to pay more attention to his surroundings and the other monsters, but all the concentration he could spare from his own fight was still locked on Time and his lack of armour. 

A yell from the midst of the fight that sounded like Legend distracted him, and he turned his head a fraction of an inch towards the sound. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Time do the same just as the bulblin he was facing drew back his spear. 

_Not Time,_ a corner of his mind screamed. _He has a family to return to._ That thought took over everything else as Four jumped to the side in front of Time. Pain exploded in his torso and right shoulder.

_Oh, Red…_

Darkness engulfed him. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'll post this now even though I haven't started the next chapter yet... the lovely feedback I'm getting is addictive.

Wild saw Four fall as if in slow motion, crimson blood already falling from his wound before he even hit the ground. _A lot of blood._

He saw Time step forward, swinging his biggoron sword to push the bulblin away from Four, breaking the monster's spear clean in two. He would keep any monsters off the wounded smith, but there was no way he could pause the fighting to stop the blood. _So much blood._ Wild quickly looked around.

There were seven bulblins left. Everybody else was still locked in combat, they needed Wild where he was to cover for them. _But all that blood._

He had to end this. Wild pulled a handful of ancient arrows from his quiver and jumped off the roof. It wasn't a very high roof, but he still managed to take five monsters out before whipping out his paraglider and landing next to Four's still form. Time was there with him in a moment, after the monster he was fighting disappeared in a flash of blinding light, putting pressure on the wound as Wild pulled all the medical supplies he had left out of his pouch. A single fairy. Goddess willing it would be enough until they could get better help.

Four moaned when Time pushed down, and Wild exhaled in relief without slowing down. Four was alive, at least. He coughed, a thick, watery sound, and his lips turned red with blood. _A punctured lung._

"Hold on, we got you, we're here. Just breathe, and _hold on_." Time's voice was shaking. 

The fairy flew in very tight circles over the right side of Four's chest, then flew off as Wild pulled bandages out.

"That was the last fairy, and I have no potions. We need to slow the blood with bandages until we can get more supplies and hope the fairy managed some healing of the lung at least," Wild said as he tried to pull Four's tunic back around Time's hands. Four's breathing was gurgling and shallow under their hands. Wild frowned.

The bleeding had slowed down but hadn't stopped. By the time they had finished wrapping the wound, the fighting was over and everyone had assembled around Four. Red specks started quickly seeping through the fabric of the bandages.

"How is he?" Wind asked, voice quivering.

"Alive. Any of you have potions left?" Wild asked. "His lung is damaged."

"I've got one," Legend said from where he was leaning heavily on Warriors.

"You mean you _need_ one. When we pull that arrow from your thigh you will bleed to death without one," Warriors answered, the edge in his voice doing nothing to hide his worry. Legend's left leg was coated in blood, his long, red tunic tinged a much darker shade where an arrow shaft was protruding.

"I'll be fine, Four won't be, without it."

"I can help Legend with a healing spell, Four can have the potion," Hyrule said as he moved closer. Legend nodded and put his arm around Hyrule's shoulder for support, taking his arm off Warriors' shoulder and digging in his pouch for the potion.

As he handed the potion to Wild, Legend spoke again.

"Speaking of magic, Wild, what the hell was that?"

"Ancient arrows, and it wasn't magic. If you are thinking I could have pulled them out earlier, they are awfully dangerous to use near friends. One small mistake and I would have vaporized one of you. But dire situations call for drastic measures."

"I wasn't going to complain."

Time, who was still kneeling next to Four's head, gently pulled him up so that Wild could slowly pour the red liquid down his throat. Drop by drop, Four swallowed it all. He then shuddered and sighed deeply. No watery noises from his lungs.

Wild exhaled and closed his eyes for a moment in relief. "He should be stable for now, but we are going to need to get him some better help," 

***

Legend let Hyrule lead him to a quiet spot where Sky had laid out a bed roll. The blood loss was starting to get to him, but he was glad he needed to concentrate on his breathing and fight for consciousness because that left little room to think about all the things that had gone wrong that day, and about all the things that could have gone _even worse._

"Warriors said you were hit pretty early on in the fight," Hyrule's voice reached him. "You shouldn't have continued fighting like this."

Legend scoffed. "I was fine, it hardly hurt," he mumbled. His vision was getting murkier by the second.

"Hey, stay with me a second longer," Hyrule said. "I need to pull the arrow tip out, before I perform the spell."

Legend clenched his teeth and braced himself. He felt a tug on his thigh and a stab of pain which nearly made him black out, but immediately after that he felt the cool, gentle touch of Hyrule's magic. It tasted sweet and green and soft and bright, and after another second his vision cleared. Hyrule's worried and dirt-smudged face came into view. 

"Are you feeling better?" Hyrule asked. "I did my best, but I'm not very good with this spell."

Where did Hyrule even get these ideas? "I'm fine, and so is your spell casting." Legend sat up. "Thank you. How are the others? Where is Four?"

They both turned to look around. Sky and Warriors were both sporting minor injuries which were being tended to by Wind and Wild. Four way lying on a bed roll next to where Wild was kneeling, and it seemed like his breathing had eased. His chest was rising and falling with deep, slow and regular movements. Time was sitting on the ground next to Four, watching him like a hawk. Legend wondered if there was something he didn't know about how Four got hit, Time seemed… off. He made a mental note to find out later.

That made eight of them.

"Where is Twilight?" Legend asked. 

Hyrule looked around with a frown for a few seconds before pointing to a shadowy corner. "There," he said.

Twilight was sitting in the shadows with his back propped against a wall. He had a broken arrow shaft just barely visible protruding from his right shoulder, and was holding his bloodied arm stiffly wrapped around his body. Legend wondered how Wild hadn't noticed that yet. As if on cue, Wild stood from where he had bandaged Warriors' arm, looked around frowning and seemed to start when he saw Twilight. He quickly moved to the Ordonian's side, who looked up wearily as Wild approached and shook his head in response to something the shorter hero said.

"Right in his bad shoulder," Hyrule said. "I don't think he was really recovered, yet, either."

"What makes you say that?" Legend asked. "He looked fine before the bulblins got here." 

Hyrule grimaced. "I don't think he was fine." 

Legend raised an eyebrow at Hyrule's comment. The younger hero was usually positive and optimistic, he must have good reason to say this.

"Have you noticed something we missed?"

I… don't really know how to explain." He gestured helplessly. "It's more a feeling than anything. His aura is… darker."

Legend raises an eyebrow at that. He had also noticed a vague magical aura around Twilight, a bit dark in flavour, but it had never been mentioned before by anyone, so he had kept it to himself.

When Legend didn't answer, Hyrule turned to him. "You've felt it too, haven't you?"

Legend studied Hyrule's concerned face for a long moment before answering. "He… always had… a strange air about him," he said carefully.

Hyrule nodded. "A bit like dark magic. So you've felt it too."

Legend grimaced. "I wouldn't call it _dark_ magic, but definitely… unfamiliar."

"But it's turning darker, especially after last night's attack. I thought that might be because he isn't… fine?" It sounded like a question. "Do magical auras darken with illness, wounds or tiredness?"

"I've never know magical auras to react to the physical state of the bearer like that. I don't think that's what's happening," Legend answered slowly.

"Then why? Why does Twilight have dark magic about him? Is it something that is influencing him? Is he aware of it? Is it _dangerous_?" Hyrule was almost pleading Legend for answers, but he had none to give. 

"What?"

Legend and Hyrule turned to find Warriors had moved closer to them and had obviously overheard part of their conversation. From the deep scowl on his face, he obviously hadn't liked what he had heard.


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I regretted posting the previous chapter before writing the following one last time, so I am obviously doing it again because I hate myself.

"Why didn't you say anything?" 

Wild's quiet and concerned voice shook Twilight out of his dark thoughts.

"It's not deep, it could wait." 

Wild's jaw tightened. "You have a bad record when it comes to determining the seriousness of your own injuries. How are you feeling? Are you hurt anywhere else?"

Now that the adrenalin from the fight was fading, Twilight was starting to feel nauseous and lightheaded again. This made no sense, his wound really was reasonably shallow and hadn't bled much. The pain in his shoulder was intensifying, too, radiating down his back and arm. That was also odd. Bulblins generally used fire arrows, but strangely (and thankfully) the ones used today had been ordinary arrows, so there was no reason for the pain to be spreading. Maybe he was just tired.

Wild was still waiting for an answer, so Twi just shook his head and, before the Cub could say more, spoke again. "How are the others?"

Wild made a face. "Four is stable but hasn't woken up yet, Warriors and Sky had small injuries that have been patched up, Legend seems better after Hyrule's spell, but I haven't checked on him yet." Wild sighed. "We need to get help for Four."

"A powerful shaman and his daughter live in this village," Twilight said, "I was told they are expected back today or tomorrow. They are old friends and have patched me up before, they should be able to treat Four and check on everyone else."

Wild raised an eyebrow at that but said nothing. The noise of horse hooves and a carriage coming from the canyon had them both turn towards the road, where a billowing cloud of dust soon heralded the arrival of a wooden cart pulled by a sweaty horse. A tall man with long black hair held the reins, a slender young girl with the same intense black eyes sitting beside him.

As the horse slowed down, the man and girl looked around, their faces turning from worried to confused to alarmed as they took in the heroes sitting at the side of the road in various states of injured and exhausted. Finally, their eyes settled on Twilight. 

They both froze for a long moment. Twilight stood self-consciously, keeping his injured arm close to his body while Wild grabbed his other one to help him up, and moved towards the carriage. "Renado, Luda, it's been a while." 

Renado recovered first. "Link! What happened? How are you here? We heard the bulblins' horns and saw the dust from a distance. We hurried back afraid of what we would find. It seems you and your… friends arrived in the nick of time."

Twilight fought back a grimace. It was far more likely they had been the ones to bring the attack on the village in the first place, but this was not the time to discuss it. "May we talk later? One of my friends was gravely injured during the battle, he needs urgent help."

"Of course, let's bring him in," Renado said. "It looks like you need some help as well. Luda, please take care of the horse, then join me, I'll need you inside." 

***

Warriors was fuming. He was unsure if he was more angry or more worried. Hyrule had explained they knew nothing for certain, that theirs was only a feeling, that they didn't even know what it was they felt. He had argued Twilight said he didn't use magic, but that didn't mean he couldn't have received some magical Ordonian blessing they knew nothing about, or maybe it was some form of nature magic they weren't familiar with. Nature magic was not light magic, strictly speaking, so it might feel different from what they usually met with, and so on.

Legend had remained silent, which had worried Warriors even more. 

Hyrule was open and trusting to the point of naivety, Legend was not. Hyrule would only see the best in all of them, and always refused to acknowledge even the harmless flaws each of them had, Legend knew better. Hyrule would never say anything bad of Legend's snarkiness, Four's stubborness, Time's secrecy… or Twilight's insistence on going off alone.

Warriors thoughts always came back to Twilight.

The odd habits the Ordonian had that had always bothered Warriors, like scouting ahead on his own, now felt downright _suspicious_ when paired with the newly acquired knowledge of dark magic around Twilight. 

If there was something Warriors hated and was always wary of, it was _traitors_. Willing _and_ unwilling ones. If Twilight was being corrupted by dark magic and was not aware of it, he might be a danger to all of them. If he was aware of it and _actively_ working with the Shadow, he could be downright _deadly_.

All the times that burly Ordonian had been away from the group during an attack now came back to Warriors' mind. _Why_ had he been away, so far away to not hear the sounds of the fighting? It made no sense from a strategical point of view if he wanted to scout ahead to avoid attacks. If he wasn't that far away, _why_ hadn't he come back to help them?

And then there were the times Warriors would wake up in the middle of the night during Twilight's watch and _he wouldn't be there_. Where did he go? Did he leave them unguarded in hopes of an attack? Did he leave to go contact someone else? 

And what of this dark magic? Was Twilight using it? Was it empowering him? Was it communicating with him? Was it _controlling_ him?

Warriors knew confronting Twilight now would be useless. He had no proof, Twi's odd behaviour had been discussed already and bringing it back up would lead to nothing. Hyrule would not back him up by talking about the dark magic he felt.

He needed to get more information out of Legend. Legend apparently felt the dark magic around Twilight as well, but had been reluctant to say anything. Well, Warriors was going to _make_ him talk. And he was going to keep a _much_ closer eye on that ranch hand from now on. He couldn't risk everyone's safety by just ignoring this. He couldn't risk…

"Captain? Are you ok?"

Warriors looked up to find Wind kneeling in front of him, his face scrunched up in worry. "You don't look well, does your arm still hurt?"

Warriors' heart clenched in his chest. _Wind_. Strong, brave, kind, _young, trusting_ Wind, for all intents and purposes _his little brother_. Warriors couldn't even think of what he wouldn't do to keep Wind safe. If anything ever happened to Wind because of that _traitor_ , Hylia help him, Warriors was going to tear him apart _limb from limb_.

Warriors was silent a moment longer, until he was sure his voice would be as steady as he wanted it to. "I'm fine, thank you." He even managed a tight smile. 

Wind sat down beside him. "Are you sure? The shaman of this village looks like a good man, and a friend of Twi's. He is healing Four right now, but maybe we should have him take a look at you as well."

Warriors clenched his jaw. If this was Twilight's _friend_ , he was definitely _not_ going to let that healer lay a single hand on him. He could trust nothing about this Hyrule now. With an effort, Warriors relaxed his jaw. "No need, little brother. I'm just tired and a bit wound up."

Wind beamed at Warriors' nickname for him, and leaned on his good arm. "If you say so, _big brother._ Just sit here and rest, I'll go check on the others."

Wind stood to leave, but Warriors caught his arm. "Wait. You have to promise me something."

Wind's smile faded at the sudden earnestness in Warriors' voice. "Sure, what is it?" 

Warriors didn't know how to word this without making it sound… well, not worse than it was, but… he didn't want to raise suspicions in anyone else.

"Just… try to stay away from Twilight for a while, ok? Don't go on patrol alone with him and stuff like that," he finally said.

" _What?_ Why?"

"I… he's been as reckless as Wild, lately, I don't want you to get hurt."

"Why are you treating me like a child again? If something is wrong with Twi we should talk about it all together, it's not like…"

"Little brother, _please._ Just… keep it to yourself and promise me you'll stay away from him."

Wind frowned, staring at Warriors with his mouth slightly open. At least the sailor was considering his words, or so he hoped.

"I… I'll be on my guard," Wind finally answered.

Warriors tried to hide his relief and gave a small nod. "That's all I want."


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter has had not one but two amazing beta readers, Okami_no_fude and Saaah. My thanks to them for catching some of my mistakes, inconsistencies and typos.  
> Any remaining mistakes are of course my own fault.

Renado sighed as he straightened from where he was leaning over Four, carefully listening to his breathing. "I have done all I could. He should be fine, and will probably wake up shortly. Luda, please bring some warm soup, add some more of this potion to it. He should have some as soon as he feels up to it."

Twilight felt Time exhale slowly beside him, mirroring the relief he felt. Renado had cleaned and bandaged Four's wound after examining him thoroughly and had managed to feed him a strange-smelling concoction.

After Luda left the room, Renado gestured to Wild and Time. "You are welcome to stay here with your friend, if you wish." He then looked at Twilight. "Link, it's time to take that arrow out of your shoulder."

Renado led Twilight to another room and directed him to sit on a bed with a straw mattress before helping him remove his undershirt. "No chain mail?" he asked.

"There wasn't time. Some of us were at the hot spring when the attack happened," Twilight answered as he grimaced with the pain of lifting his injured arm.

Renado was silent for a moment as he examined the broken arrow in Twi's shoulder. "You look… different. The journey you and your friends are on is not being kind to you." He paused a moment longer. "You lost weight."

Twilight suppressed a wince. He had hoped it wasn't that noticeable. Playing it off seemed like the best option at the moment. "Odd, one of our group is actually an excellent cook, I can assure you I am eating a lot better than I did on my last adventure," he said with a smirk.

"Would you… tell me about your friends and what you are doing?"

"I… it's complicated. We don't quite understand exactly what is happening yet. We have been brought together to face an unknown foe, we believe it might be a Shadow or Dark Spirit of some sort."

"You and your friends… share a strong spiritual connection. I don't think I have ever felt something quite like it."

Twilight smiled. "Yes, I guess we do."

"I can just about see the tip of the arrow, it's not in too deep. Please keep still, " the healer said gently, as he picked up a metal tool from the table.

The hero took a deep breath, then exhaled slowly, relaxing his shoulders. This was not the first time he had this interaction with Renado, and both of them knew what to do. Just when he expected it, Twi felt a tug and a stab of pain in his shoulder as the shaman pulled the arrow tip out and pressed a compress to the wound. He clenched his teeth against the pain for a second, then turned to find Reando intently examining the arrow he still held in his free hand.

"There is… some kind of dark substance on this arrow. It was coated in something viscous and black before being used," the healer said slowly. "I fear this might be some kind of poison. Do you know what this is? Have you seen it before?"

Twi took the arrow Renado handed him with a sinking feeling in his stomach. He feared he knew what that dark stuff was, and just _why_ he had been feeling so nauseous again. "I… think we have come across this before, but we don't know exactly what it is and it has never been used like this," he said carefully. Then a thought struck him. "One of my friends was hit with an arrow as well, he might have been poisoned too, we have to check!"

Renado was already cleaning out Twilight's shoulder wound with a milky white potion, causing a cool, pleasant sensation to radiate down his back and arm. "I agree. Let me get you sorted out, then we will call him in." 

Luda walked in carrying clean linen bandages. "Link's friend has woken up."

"Thank you, I'll see him again shortly. Link tells me another one of his friends was hit by an arrow, can you go find him and bring him here, please?"

After Luda was gone and Twilight's shoulder was tightly bandaged, Renado picked up the arrow tip again and started examining it, this time with the help of several utensils and bottles of coloured liquids.

"This doesn't correspond to any of the poisons I know. How do you feel? Did you notice any odd symptoms?" asked the healer.

Twilight didn't really know what to say. If this really _was_ the cursed blood, it would explain why he felt sick again, but would he still be feeling sick if he hadn't swallowed any before? Telling Renado _that_ would lead to awkward questions he couldn't afford to answer. "I felt the pain from the wound much farther than I should have, down my back and arm, but that cleared up a little when you cleaned it." 

Renado nodded. "I cleaned your wound with the strongest thing I had, and I am now going to make you drink the most potent potion I can brew," the healer said as he handed Twilight a small bottle. "Is there anything else I should know?"

Twilight was spared from answering when Luda walked back in with Legend and Wild. Renado quickly explained the situation and asked to examine Legend's injury.

"I have been healed by a spell, the wound is closed," Legend said a bit defensively.

"Does it still hurt?" Renado asked.

Legend seemed to hesitate. Wild snorted. "He was limping on his way here," he said.

Legend glared at Wild. 

"If the wound was healed magically, it makes no sense to try and clean the poison out. I think you will be fine with this." The healer handed Legend a vial to match the one still in Twilight's hands. "What I have given you is not exactly an antidote to the poison, it is a serum. This means it is very effective in countering the ill effects of most poisons, but it won't cleanse the poison out of your system. To be able to make an antidote, I would need to know exactly what this poison is. Generally, this serum is enough to give your body time to cleanse the poison by itself, but keep in mind the poison is still there for now."

Legend eyed the small flask in his hand warily, then met Twilight's eye. Twi heard his unspoken question loud and clear, and a fair question it was, too. Why should Legend trust this man blindly? All Twilight could do was show Legend he trusted Renado completely. He held up his own vial as if proposing a toast, then downed the potion.

The relief the serum brought him was immediate. The nauseous feeling that had been creeping again into his stomach subsided and the lingering pain in his shoulder dulled further. He felt better than he had in weeks, and the smile he felt creeping on his face had to express that, because Wild visibly relaxed and cracked a smile in return.

Legend still seemed unconvinced, turning the flask around in his hands. "I don't think this is really necessary," he said slowly.

Renado smiled. "I understand your reluctance at drinking something handed to you by a stranger. I'll leave you and your friends alone. If you would like more information on this serum, I will gladly give it. In the meantime, I'll go check on your friend." With that, he walked out of the room.

"I heard Four woke up, is he alright?" Twilight asked.

"He is," Wild answered. "He was eating when I left him. Time is still with him." He turned back to Legend. "You should drink that, whatever poison was on that arrow it's obviously still affecting you."

Legend made a face. "If it's only a serum, I have stuff that can clear me up just as well, if not better, now that I know there was poison." He threw the vial at Twilight. "You keep it. I hadn't seen you look this good in a while."

***

After Wild and the strange girl, the healer's daughter, apparently, had come out to find Legend, Wind had started getting antsy. Wild had told him Four was better and that Twilight was getting treated, but Wind couldn't sit still. Warriors' mood had apparently rubbed off on him. He decided to go check on Four.

Not knowing exactly where to go, he stepped into the building he had seen his friends disappear into and found himself in a dark hallway with several closed doors. Where was he supposed to go? He saw a door ajar at the end of the hallway and decided to start with that one. As he moved closer, he could hear quiet voices coming from inside. He quickly realised it was the shaman and his daughter speaking. He paused to consider whether he should turn back or knock, when his own name caught his attention.

"Father, I'm worried about Link."

"His path is a dark and winding one, child, there is not much we could do last time and I don't think we can do anything now. At least he is not alone now."

"I know, and I can feel the deep bond between him and his friends, I can feel how strong all of them are. But there is something… strange about Link that wasn't there before. I feel… he is in danger."

"They are all in danger, as we are, or the goddesses wouldn't have brought together people like them."

"No, it's something specifically about him. None of his friends have that… shadow around them."

"A shadow?"

"I don't know how to explain it better, I have no words for it. It almost feels to me as if he was in the darkness even when we saw him outside in the sun."

There was a long silence from inside the room and Wind wanted to leave, wanted to run, but his legs wouldn't obey him. He was rooted to the floor, his heart pounding painfully loud in his chest. He shouldn't be listening, he shouldn't be eavesdropping, but he just _couldn't move._ The girl's words has been so terrifying, so ominous, he _needed_ to hear if she was going to say more.

A door to his immediate left opened and Legend walked out. "Hello, sailor, came to check on us?"

It took every ounce of willpower Wind possessed to school his features into a smile, but he was spared from answering as the door at the end of the hallway opened.

"Hello, I guess you want to see your friends. Step right this way please," the healer said with a smile, walking towards them and opening another door for them. 

Wind was happy to see Four awake and sitting up, but couldn't forget the words he had heard in the darkened hallway. When Wild and Twilight walked into the room a few minutes later, his thoughts turned even more painful. He couldn't help thinking back on Warriors' words and pairing them up with those of the shaman's daughter.

_What in Hylia's name was going on?_


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: graphic descriptions of violence and lethal injuries, blood, some cursing.

The room Legend was sharing with Sky, Wind and Warriors was large but sparsely furnished. Sky and Warriors had already laid out their bed rolls and left to see about replenishing supplies and dinner, while Wind was sitting on the only bed reading one of his letters, uncharacteristically quiet. After Legend laid down his bed roll, he sat on it and started going through his pack. He _knew_ he had a poison-clearing ring somewhere, he just had to _find_ it.

His leg was still hurting, but if that healer was right and the arrow had been poisoned, his ring would clear him up overnight, or so he hoped. 

Just as he had finally found the ring and slipped it on his finger, Warriors walked in the room, looked around briefly, then turned to Wind. "Little sailor, I forgot to tell Sky I am also out of bandages, could you please run after him to tell him? He should be on his way to the store, where the big sign is down the road."

"Will do, lazy bum," Wind replied with a small smile as he jumped up from the bed and jogged out the door. 

As soon as the youngest hero was out of the room, Warriors' face fell into a grim, serious set. _Uh oh_ , Legend thought.

Warriors lost no time beating around the bush. "You obviously know more than you shared earlier about our ranch hand. I need to know what is going on."

Legend grimaced. He _really_ didn't want to have this conversation. First of all, he knew nothing for certain. Secondly, he believed they all had the right to keep secrets, just as they all had the right to be on their guard. "I don't know anything more than you already got out of Hyrule."

"Fine, then, what is your opinion on the dark aura Hyrule talked about? You are experienced with magic, you must have your own take on it."

"I have no opinion on it."

"That's bullshit. You are as much of a strategist as I am, you think ahead and plan for contingencies." Warriors' voice softened. "Please. I just want to understand."

Legend sighed. "I honestly don't know what to tell you. The magic that surrounds Twilight is unfamiliar to me, so I really can't say anything about it. If you really want to know my opinion, I think he has some magical ability he is keeping from us." Warriors drew breath as if to interrupt, but Legend didn't let him. "Before you say anything, I also think it's his damn business and he has a right to withhold information if he so chooses."

Warriors grimaced at that, but seemed to ponder Legend's words before speaking again. "What about the darkening of the magic that surrounds him I heard Hyrule talk about?"

"I felt a change, but I don't know what to make of it." This wasn't entirely true, as Legend agreed with Hyrule that Twilight's aura had shifted closer to what Legend associated with outright dark magic, but he wasn't going to tell Warriors that. He was being paranoid enough already.

Warriors held Legend's gaze for a few seconds before sighing and looking away. "I am worried. I have been betrayed before, by people I considered brothers." He closed his eyes. "We were never able to establish if they had been corrupted by dark magic or if they acted of their own free will. I don't know which would have been worse." Warriors opened his eyes, and the cold, fierce light Legend saw there made his blood turn to ice. "It makes no difference, anyway, I still had no choice but to kill them."

Legend swallowed. He didn't like the implications of Warriors' words applied to the situation at hand, but he couldn't in his heart completely disagree.

***

Twilight gasped as he sat up, his vision fading from blood red to the inky blackness that surrounded him. He clutched at his pounding head with both hands, trying to clear those terrifying images from behind his eyelids. Slowly, painfully, he was able to become conscious of where he was again. Renado's house, in Kakariko, his Hyrule. He looked around to find Wild and Hyrule sleeping on the floor a few steps away.

A nightmare. Painfully vivid and grotesque. 

His stomach was churning and his shoulder throbbing, but the discomfort was nothing to the horror he was still feeling at what he had just seen, what he had just _done_ in his nightmare.

He had _killed_ his friends. His brothers. With sword, shield, bow, and claws, and _teeth_ and _his bare hands_. He could still feel their blood dripping off his hands, the metallic taste in his mouth, he could still hear the sound of their bones snapping under his blows, he could see the light leaving their eyes.

_One after the other,_ each death _more horrific than the one before_ , and each and every one of them _his deliberate doing._

He couldn't breathe, he needed air. He hastily got up from the bed. Hyrule and Wild had insisted Twi take the only bed, even though he was feeling fine. He reached for his boots and stumbled out of the room and down the hall.

Once outside, he leaned his back and head against the wall and tried to catch his breath. Those visions still wouldn't leave him alone, as soon as he closed his eyes even for an instant, they were there. Four, three arrows in his chest. Legend, a sword through his heart. Sky, his head almost hacked off. Warriors, deep bloody claw marks on his chest and neck. Hyrule, _Wind, Wild… Time._ Each death more gruesome and savage and _disturbingly intimate_.

Twilight pushed himself off the wall to throw up on the dirt of the side alley, one hand still on the wall the only thing keeping him upright. Suddenly, he felt gentle hands moving his hair back from his face. He jerked back to find Hyrule standing beside him with a concerned look on his face.

"Easy, it's me. Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you. I heard you get up, you didn't seem fine so I thought I'd follow," Hyrule whispered as he took hold of Twilight's shoulders to help him to a bench on the side of the building. "What happened?"

"I'm fine," Twilight managed to answer. "Nightmare."

"Must have been a bad one. Do you want to talk about it?"

Just the idea of describing what he had seen, what he has _done_ , made Twilight feel sick again. He shook his head vigorously.

"I've never seen you like this," Hyrule whispered. "Can I get you something? Some water, some tea? Do you want me to wake one of the others?" 

"No, please," Twilight choked, "I'll be fine, I just… need air. A walk. I have to move around a bit, a distraction."

"I'll walk with you."

Hyrule draped one of Twilight's arms over his shoulders and slid his own around Twi's waist, leading him away from the building. They started making their way up the path that led to the warm spring, Twilight still struggling to clear his mind of the terrifying images that lingered there. He was grateful for Hyrule's presence and his obvious efforts at rambling to take his mind off his nightmare.

"I liked the warm spring up here a lot, though I have to admit the scenery is not as green as I usually like it. Do you come here often?"

Twilight drew breath to answer, but he was distracted by a bell-like noise and looked up to see a lantern, hovering in mid-air ahead of them in the middle of the path.

_Damn._

The lantern stopped moving for a moment, then swung towards the two heroes, and an invisible force blasted them off their feet.

"What the heck is that?" Hyrule gasped struggling to get up again.

Twilight cursed. A poe, _now_. It didn't even matter that they were unarmed, Twi would need to transform and use his wolf instincts to take the wraith down, but that would throw his secret to the wind. Maybe they could still run for it. He took Hyrule's arm and started walking backwards. "We have to get away from here."

But the poe had no intention of letting them get away, and the lantern bobbed closer. Twilight knew what to look out for, so when he heard the tell-tale swish of a blade, he turned and pushed Hyrule to the ground, managing to avoid the swipe. When he turned back to the lantern, what he saw made his blood run cold.

It was Hyrule, and yet not. He had the same messy hair, green tunic, bright smile, but his eyes were cold and dead, and in his hands was a long scythe. Twilight did a double take, and found the real Hyrule sprawled on the ground beneath him, his face as confused and scared as Twi felt.

The Ordonian stood and turned in one swift motion, meaning to just _shift_ and get this over with, but the image of a mauled Hyrule bleeding beneath his wolf paws from his nightmare came back to him so vividly he almost gagged. _Goddess,_ that thing looked just like Hyrule, he couldn't do it. Not now.

The poe smirked, a distorted version of Hyrule's cheeky smile, and swiped his scythe again. Twilight jumped back, but not in time to avoid the blade completely. Searing pain exploded in his abdomen. 

"Twilight!" Hyrule jumped forward, but the poe was faster, grabbing the smaller hero and stepping behind him, lifting the scythe to his neck, morphing as he moved.

Twi's breath left him completely as a scene straight out of his nightmare played out before him. In front of him was _himself_ , holding a blade to Hyrule's neck, hard enough to draw blood. The look he saw on his own face was cruel, bloodthirsty, vicious, _corrupted_.

The world spun around him. It couldn't be, he couldn't let this happen, he couldn't be the one to kill Hyrule. He _wouldn't_ be the one who killed one of his brothers.

He shifted without even thinking, letting his wolf instincts take over before the transformation was even complete. In front of him was the shrivelled, glowing body of the wraith, just as he really was. He lunged, neatly avoiding Hyrule and breaking the poe beneath his teeth. Once he could see its soul, he bit down hard and _pulled_.

The wraith dissolved in a cloud of back smoke.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1) I know the Poison-clearing ring is not a thing. I took liberties.  
> 2) I've never played Triforce Heroes, but apparently there is a prankster poe who can take on Link's appearance. I couldn't resist.


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have been sitting on this far too long. Not beta read, finished in a rush, but whatever.

Hyrule tried to sit up from where he had landed, hard, on the ground, but only managed to lift himself on his elbows. He couldn't breathe properly, only managing short, laboured gasps.

_Twilight…_

He had seen… Wolfie... attack Twilight, maul him, _kill him_. But it couldn't be… he had also seen Twilight… morph into Wolfie. And… Twilight disappear into black smoke… 

His mind was reeling, struggling to make sense of what he had seen. _Monster,_ he tried to remind himself, _monsters die in black, powdery smoke._

Wolfie was now crouched low on the ground, panting, dark red blood staining the ground beneath him. Hyrule could only stare, transfixed, uncomprehendingly. 

What was real? What was illusion? Hyrule tried to swallow, to catch his breath, but couldn't. He closed his eyes, and all he could see behind his eyelids was Wolfie closing his jaws around Twi's throat.

He opened his eyes again, to see Wolfie still crouched on the ground in front of him, his blue eyes looking at him, his gaze… concerned. Pained. Almost human. The wolf's head dipped lower, and suddenly there was Twilight on his hands and knees, his face scrunched up in pain. The Ordonian staggered to his feet, one arm tightly wrapped around his abdomen, and moved to kneel in front of Hyrule.

"Hyrule?" 

It wasn't until he felt Twi's hand on his shoulder that Hyrule truly believed what he was seeing was real. 

"You're real… you're alive…" he heard himself whisper brokenly. "What… what was that?"

Twilight grimaced. "I'm not sure. I thought it was one of the usual wraiths from around here, but they don't normally become visible, let alone…"

The way Twilight's voice drifted into silence at the end told Hyrule he hadn't imagined seeing himself holding that scythe, and then… then…

"You're bleeding." Twilight's voice pulled Hyrule out of his spiralling thoughts. He lifted a hand to his neck to find it slick with blood. His face also felt wet… had he been _crying_?

His eyes traveled to Twilight's midsection, were crimson blood was leaking through his fingers. "So are you," he managed to answer.

"It's not deep, I'm fine for now."

They had no supplies with them, having walked out in barely more than their nightshirts. All they could manage was a few makeshift bandages by ripping up pieces of their tunics, just barely enough to slow the bleeding. Hyrule realised distantly he was letting Twilight do most of the work, and a part of his mind also recognized this numb feeling for what it was.

He was in shock. 

A small part of his brain was really annoyed with this, like he was just being a stupid, weak idiot. 

The pained grunt that escaped Twilight as he helped Hyrule up pulled the younger hero partially out of his head. "Twi?" 

"I got you, we're going back to the others." Twi slipped his arm under Hyrule's arms to support him as they walked.

"Don't… you'll bleed through the bandages if you strain yourself.." Hyrule stuttered out.

"You need help, we better get down fast. I don't know if you've noticed, but you're shaking pretty bad. I don't think you can walk on your own."

Of course he was shaking. He had just seen one of his brothers _die_. "Twilight, I thought you were _dead_. I just saw Wolfie rip your throat out."

Twilight didn't answer, keeping his eyes on the path ahead of them as they kept walking. Hyrule's brain suddenly started working again.

"You're a shapeshifter. _You're Wolfie._ " 

The Ordonian just nodded, his eyes still on the path. Relief flooded through Hyrule as he finally made sense of what he had seen. "That… thing took our shape."

Twilight's arm tensed around Hyrule's body. "I've faced them before, but I've never seen them do _that_." After a beat of silence he spoke again. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry you had to find out about me like that."

The younger hero was too relieved to even be surprised. "We all have abilities or items we keep hidden."

"One thing is hiding an ability, another is using it behind your backs."

Hyrule chuckled. "Under our noses is more appropriate."

They walked in silence for a couple of minutes before Twilight spoke again. "I try to keep it hidden because… this was more of a curse. I had no control over it in the beginning. I managed to turn it into an ability to use to my advantage, eventually. It's… a kind of dark magic from a different world. I don't know how to explain it better." He paused for a second. "Wild, Four and Time know about my shape-shifting, but the others don't. I'd like to keep that way for now."

"Well, now I understand why the magic around you felt kind of strange to me. But why has it been getting darker?"

They had reached Renado's house, but Twilight stumbled and turned towards Hyrule. "What?"

Before Hyrule could answer, they were interrupted by a voice coming from the darkened doorway.

"I thought I heard your voices out here, what…" Time paused and took in their appearance in the weak light of the lantern hanging beside the door. "What in Hylia's name happened to you two?"

***

He was going to have white hair before this was over, Time was sure of it. And not because he thought this quest would take a long time. 

Twilight and Hyrule had walked back into camp bleeding from blade wounds, had talked about an invisible poe wielding a scythe, but had been evasive and tight-lipped as to the details and especially _why they had left in the middle of the night, weaponless_. The only thing he could guess was how they had defeated the poe eventually. This would also at least partially explain the meaningful looks Twilight and Hyrule were exchanging, and the way the Pup seemed to be doing most of the talking. Apparently someone else was in on Twi's secret, now.

Time was itching to talk to Twilight, just the two of them. He had been distracted by Four's reckless gesture and subsequent injury (he still wasn't over that, that _should have never happened_ , and he wanted to make sure _it wouldn't happen again._ ), but he felt there was a lot he and the Pup needed to discuss. He hadn't forgotten the corrupted blood affecting Twi that Wild had talked about, and had completely missed the talk about the poisoned arrows. 

And now this.

Time watched his friends gearing up and getting ready to leave before the sun had even climbed high enough to shine down in the canyon. After Twilight and Hyrule were force-fed a red potion by Wild, the Pup had insisted they had to leave the village soon, as they seemed to be attracting monsters. Staying near inhabited areas was putting innocent lives in danger. This was something they could all agree on.

Time noticed the Pup was not with them. "Where is Twilight?" he asked. 

Wild looked up from his pack. "He went inside to get dressed and gather his stuff," he said.

_Perfect._

Time walked briskly inside, making straight for the room Twi, Wild and Hyrule had shared. He found the door ajar and stepped inside. He stopped dead in his tracks.

Twilight was sitting on the bed, his elbows resting on his knees and his head in his hands, his shoulders slumped.

Any word Time was about to say died on his lips. It was so rare to see the Pup so… _unguarded_ , it was strangely painful to see the emotions he kept hidden from the world. As Time stood there, frozen, Twilight looked up. The weary, worried and dejected look on his face quickly morphed into a neutral small smile as he stood up. "Hey, old man," he greeted as he turned to pull a clean undershirt from his pack. Shoulders straight once more, face relaxed. A mask.

Time felt his throat constrict with emotion, and out of habit, as if by reflex, mastered it and swallowed it. _Huh. They were so alike in this._ How could he tell the Pup to let go if he couldn't do it? 

"Are you alright?" Time asked, his voice low.

"Of course, Wild went a bit overboard with the potion, I almost don't even need the bandage anymore," Twilight said with a smirk, gesturing to his bound abdomen.

"Wild told me about the poison on the arrows, and that the healer didn't know how to cure it. How is your shoulder?"

Twi's hand came up to touch the mostly healed wound and rolled his shoulder. "Still a little sore, but I think I slept on it wrong."

Time wasn't sure if he should let that slide. "What about the corrupted blood making you sick?"

Twilight gave a small shrug. "Its taste ruins my appetite, occasionally makes me queasy. It's no big deal, I'm fine now."

Time sighed. He watched in silence as Twi got dressed and pulled his gear and belts on. His Pup was too much like him to just let his walls down, he knew, and yet.. something was off.

"Do you want to talk about what happened last night?" he asked softly.

The Ordonian looked up. "I already told you, it was a stupid poe. Caught us off guard."

Time really didn't want his next question to sound harsh, but he had to ask. "Why did you… walk off in the first place?"

Twilight stiffened. "I was stupid, I was distracted. It was my fault. I had a nightmare, and Hyrule was helping me get over it. He had no way of knowing the area could be dangerous, _I_ was the one who should have known better."

Time didn't like the self-loathing and self-blame he heard in the Pup's voice. He moved forward and put a hand on the younger hero's arm. 

"Pup, this was not your fault. You said yourself so many monsters this close to town is not normal. You had no way of knowing."

Twi shook his head. "But I did. Hasn't stuff like this been happening for weeks?"

"Then learn and move on. We better stick together and be prepared. I… take it Hyrule now knows about Wolfie."

Twilight grimaced. "We had no weapons, and weapons wouldn't have helped us against that thing anyway." He moved towards the door. "Let's go, the sooner we leave, the better."

It seemed their conversation was over before it had really begun. Time sighed and followed the Pup outside.


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no words to describe how grateful I am to Okami_no_fude, beta reader extraordinaire. I dont know what lucky star blessed me and gave me a beta reader who catches all the weak points in my works and makes them so much better in three words.  
> So you all have Okami_no_fude to thank for this as well.

Hyrule field looked smaller than Twilight remembered. It must have been the travelling through different Hyrules, especially Wild's. It still took them the best part of a day to reach the beginning of the hills that led to Castletown, also because they hadn't left Kakariko until mid morning. The vague plan was to get to Castletown and scout for information, but they hadn't decided if splitting up to try to attract less monsters was a good idea or not.

They made camp on a wooded hill, right up against a rocky outcropping for protection and shelter, meaning to travel to the Castle in the morning. "If we are to be attacked during the night again, better for us to be away from civilisation," had been the reasoning. 

Twilight had third watch, which meant he would get a few hours of sleep before being called by Sky. He felt strangely heavy and worn out, not to mention the constant, nauseous feeling he had been living with for a while, so when he put his head down on his bed roll, sleep found him quickly.

_The sky was red, and for some reason that made his blood sing. He revelled in the feeling of power he felt coursing through his veins, and he stood, breathing deeply the smell of magic and darkness in the air. This was the time, this was the moment to act. Attack, maul, kill, destroy. Should he do this in his other form? Should he shift to better feel the death of his victims, feel their blood flowing through his claws and teeth? Not that it mattered much. Their blood_ would _be spilled, regardless._

A sound reached Twilight through the darkness. It was soft, familiar. It sounded like friends around a campfire, like warm smiles and rest after a long day. It was rhythmic, comforting.

_Blood would spill. Bodies would burn. Shrieks of agony quickly cut off, death, and then silence._

That sound again. A memory stirred. A knife, a piece of wood, friendly, warm, sky-blue eyes. A crackling fire. Twilight opened his eyes.

It took him a very long moment to make sense of his surroundings. Sky was sitting on a log, away enough from the dying fire to retain some night vision, carving a piece of wood with his knife while keeping watch. Everyone else was asleep around the fire. The only sound, apart from the soft snores of their friends, was the soft, rhythmic swishing of Sky's knife on the wood.

And Twilight was _standing, a few paces away from his bed roll._ He had _walked. In his sleep. Towards Sky's turned back_. 

A feeling came back to him, so vivid it made him sway. Bloodthirst, a will to _attack_ , to shift in his wolf form, _to kill_. A nightmare, that had made him _stand up and move._ The dread that clutched Twilight's stomach almost made his legs give out from under him.

Sky turned around and smiled at Twilight. "Oh, is it your turn already? It felt earlier." He paused, then, and his face changed into a small frown. "Are you alright? You look… like you've just seen a ghost."

Twilight swallowed through the sudden tightness in his throat. "Just a stupid nightmare. Let me grab my gear," he croaked. 

A few minutes later, Sky was settling down to sleep and Twilight was taking his place on the log, his mind a painful whirlwind. He didn't understand what had just happened. He wanted to believe it was just a nightmare, that there was no need to be alarmed, but the fact he had moved without meaning to was terrifying. What would have happened if he hadn't woken up? What would he have done? What did this mean? More importantly, why had it happened? Would it happen again? _Was he dangerous to his friends?_

Those thoughts kept him occupied for the remainder of the night, which was thankfully uneventful. Twi wasn't sure he was being an alert and efficient lookout and could handle an attack.

Sunrise came pale and cold, but Twilight felt it had come too fast. He still had no answers to the questions raging in his head. He heard his friends stir behind him, and turned to find a grumpy Four walking towards him. 

"Why didn't you wake me for last watch?" Four asked.

"I wasn't sleepy, no point in two of us being awake," Twi answered with a tight smile. It wasn't even a lie. 

After a quick breakfast, the heroes started packing up to continue their journey. Twilight knew they had to walk through a narrow canyon, and that it was a perfect place for an ambush. Scouting ahead seemed like a good idea, and he suggested as much to Time.

"Not alone, Pup, not this time. Take Wild and Four," the older hero answered, giving him a pointed look. 

Twilight couldn't argue with the companions the Old man suggested, and as they were both ready, the three quickly set off through the trees. As soon as they were out of sight, the Ordonian turned to his two companions. "I am going to shift to check if I can smell anything up ahead."

"Twi, no…"

But before Wild could even finish speaking, Twilight had shifted and set off at a run through the trees. 

As he ran, Twi could hear his friends trying to keep up with him, but he knew they wouldn't. He let his senses roam forward. Before he even got to the canyon, he heard them. _Mounted bulblins, again._ He could smell the stench of the boars, the corrupted blood of the monsters and something else. _Lizalfos._ Damn. They were going to close in fast. He decided to gather more information about their numbers and weapons before he ran back to warn his friends, as a wolf he could move closer unnoticed. 

He crept through the forest undergrowth, carefully and silently, until he was close enough to the group of monsters to count them. Ten bulblins, five of which mounted on giant boars, and four lizalfos. This was not good. He turned to ran back, meaning to stop his friends and find another way to Castletown, but he immediately smelled Four and Wild. They probably had heard the monsters too, and had wisely hidden in the trees. Twilight quickly found them, but before he could shift back, he caught on the wind a whiff of the rest of their group. They were close, they had caught up, at the worst possible moment.

The sound of horns told Twi they had been spotted, just as Time and Warriors came into view between the trees, the rest of the group right behind them. There was no time for explanations or anything more than a shouted warning from Four, before an arrow whizzed through the air, sinking with a dull thud in a tree beside Warriors' head. The monsters charged through the trees.

Twilight wasted no time in jumping on the first lizalfos, taking it by surprise and dragging it to the forest ground, his fangs sunk in its neck. He could hear swords clang and arrows whizz by him as the foul taste of corrupted blood filled his mouth. The monster struggled beneath him, raking his claws down the wolf's side and nicking his other side with his blade, but stilled after a few more moments. 

Once he was sure the monster would stay down, Twi let go and nimbly dodged a spear brandished by a bulblin. The bulblin moved towards Wild's turned back, but the wolf pounced on its back before it could take another step, biting down hard into the muscular shoulder and using his claws to pin down the monster's arms. Having neutralized the bulblin's ability to fight back, its death came quickly.

A pained cry made Twilight turn around to see Wind, red blossoming on his tunic, deep claw marks on his chest. As if in slow motion, the sword slipped out of the young hero's hand, clanging on the forest floor, while he fell to his knees. The bulblin standing in front of him raised its arm for a second swipe. 

_No._

Twilight jumped without even thinking. Agony erupted on his back as the monster's claws dug in his skin. He curled his body protectively around the smaller hero as he crumpled to the ground. Twi felt his hair ripple when Legend was there in an instant, throwing the monster off with a powerful blast from the fire wand he was brandishing.

A gentle hand on his shoulder had the wolf look up. Sky was there, a pinched look on his face. "I got him, Wolfie. Move over."

Twi shakily disengaged himself from Wind's still and bloody form ( _so still, so much blood_ ), and made space for Sky to work. He looked around to realise the fighting was over, the last two monsters being disposed of by Time and Legend, Biggoron sword and fire wand flashing. In the commotion of first aid being given to Wind, the wolf slipped away through the trees.

Twilight crouched beneath a tree, panting heavily as his adrenaline ebbed away and the pain from his wounds hit him. His heart was pounding, his stomach churning. He knew he had swallowed more of that cursed blood when he had heard Wind cry out, and he was terrified of what this would do to him. To make matters worse, the gashes on his back from the bulblin's swipe burned something fierce. He could smell the black blood on himself, the monster's claws must have been covered in it. 

As soon as he caught his breath, he clenched his teeth and shifted, the gashes on his back stretching painfully. He sat down heavily on the forest floor, one shoulder propped sideways against a tree. Eyes clenched against the pain and nausea.

Hyrule's words about his magical signature darkening came back to him. If the tainted blood and his nightmares were connected, episodes such as the previous night might happen again. And next time, he might not wake up before he…before he... he couldn't even finish that thought. The idea of hurting any one of his friends was too painful to even consider. He put his head in his hands, trying to calm his breathing. He realised he was shaking.

He thought about not going back to the others to not put then in danger, but he knew they would come looking for him. Twilight sighed again. It was time to come clean, tell everyone all he knew or suspected. They needed to know, he couldn't put his friends at risk. If he could be a danger to them, they had a right to know. They would think of something together, or at least they would know not to look for him if he ran off.

Also, he could use a little help with the wounds on his back. They were definitely still bleeding.

***

Warriors was _beyond livid._ Wind, his _little brother_ , was still unconscious. Hyrule and Sky were both convinced be would wake up soon, as they had the proper supplies and had acted quickly, but the youngest hero's shallow breathing and waxy complexion, coupled with the bloody bandages around his torso, filled Warriors with dread and fear. And righteous rage.

Because this had all happened for that _filthy traitor_ that had led them into a trap, and then disappeared. _Again_. And oh, sure, he was going to show up in minutes with some fancy story on why he was detained, but Warriors was done with his bullshit. This time that traitorous ranch hand was going to _pay_ for what he had done to them.

As if on cue, Warriors heard dragging steps behind him. In one swift movement, he turned, drew his sword and pointed it at Twilight. 

"You have a hell of a nerve to show your face back here. I think you have finally shown your true colors today, you are getting sloppy with all your failures. You didn't manage to get Hyrule killed yesterday, and all of us are alive today as well. What are you going to try next, attack us in our sleep?"

Twilight stumbled back a step, looking pale and shaken. His flinch at Warriors' accusations did nothing but confirm his guilt. "Warriors…" he stammered.

"I am not going to let you sweet talk your way out of it again." Warriors voice was steely. "You have led us into an ambush for the last time. Tell me, are you working for the Shadow? Or did someone else hire you to do their dirty work?"

"What in Hylia's name has gotten into you? Put that sword down!" Wild yelled, moving towards Warriors.

"Stay back, Wild. Now our Ordonian _friend_ is going to tell us exactly why he is covered in dark magic and leads his supposed friends into deadly ambushes all the time," Warriors said, a threatening edge to his voice. "Tell me, Twilight, do you _want_ to see us all dead? Is this what you dream about?"

The traitor was visibly shaking, now, his fear and shock at being called out clear in his eyes. He stumbled back another step and, before anyone else could react, turned tail and fled into the trees.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't even need to tell you guys my amazing beta reader Okami_no_fude made this ten times better in the space of one conversation, earning my eternal gratitude, right?

Wild was the first to move. 

"Twilight!"

Four stood stunned, as Wild searched the trees. He came back a few minutes later, livid, and headed straight for Warriors, grabbing the front of his tunic.

"What in Hylia's name was that about? Have you gone mad?" he shouted. "He's gone, and he was injured! He needed help!"

The captain scowled as he replaced his sword in the scabbard on his back. "Why do you say he was injured? He wasn't here during the fight, and because of him Wind was wounded and is still unconscious!"

Four had remained very still and quiet during the confrontation, struggling to manage the cacophony of voices inside his head pulling him in all directions, but he lost control over his emotions as Red's upset would not be silenced any more.

"He was here all along, you idiot. _He is Wolfie._ He was the one who took that second blow for Wind, which probably would have otherwise killed him," Four hissed, more viciously than he intended to.

In the stunned silence that followed, part of Four was furious with himself for letting that slip, while a corner of his mind was very ironically complimenting him for this well-thought out and strategically sound move.

_Make yourself useful or shut up, Vio._

Four took a deep breath and turned to Wild. When he spoke again, his voice was a lot calmer. "You are right, he was injured and we need to find him. There is blood on the ground where he was standing, so he must have been bleeding badly, which means we have to find him _fast_. However, if he shifted and doesn't want us to find him, it will be hard."

Wild nodded tersely and began strapping his gear back in place jerkily. "How do you suggest we go about this?"

"Wait. Wait a minute. Twilight is… _what_?" Sky asked. 

"He is a _shapeshifter?_ " Legend finished Sky's question, incredulity in his tone. "How did _that_ happen?"

The captain looked taken aback for just a second, but scowled again. "Assuming he _has_ the ability to turn into a wolf, that does not mean he isn't a traitor. Actually, this seems like an ability dark magic would grant."

Four felt his temper slip from him again. "Oh, because a traitor would _use his body_ to shield someone he was trying to get killed?" He spat angrily.

A frustrated growl escaped from the champion's lips. "Can we talk about this _later_? We need to find him _now._ "

Time stepped forward and put his hand on Wild's arm. "Wait just a few minutes. I want to go after him as well, but we have to clear a few things up first." He trained his eye on Legend. "Yes, Twilight is a shapeshifter, he _is_ Wolfie, I don't think I have to explain why he kept it a secret." The old man turned to Warriors. "I also understand what would make you suspicious, but I assure you, he is _anything but_ a traitor." 

"But _how_?" Legend asked again.

"He told me…" Hyrule began, hesitatingly, "he told me... he was cursed during his adventure, or something like that. It was magic from a different world, he learned to control it." 

The pink-haired hero seemed to ponder this for a long moment, his eyes trained on Hyrule, before speaking again. "This would explain the magic around him."

Warriors had been silent for a few minutes, his scowl still in place. "I still don't believe all of this. He disappeared many times right before an attack. That can't always have been a coincidence," he growled.

Four was really having a hard time keeping his anger, frustration and worry in check. "That's because the heightened instincts he has in his wolf form have bled into his normal senses, so before we are ambushed, he often feels something is off and shifts to check, the _idiot_ ," he grumbled through clenched teeth. After a moment he spoke again, his voice softer and more pained. "Since you seem to have noticed a lot, have you ever noticed anything odd about him when he returned?"

The captain's eyebrows lifted. "What do you mean, he…" He fell silent, then his expression turned to surprise. "He was almost always injured. Where Wolfie had been hit."

" _Yes_ ," Wild said through gritted teeth, "because in wolf form he _wears no protections_. Just like he was wearing none when _he jumped in front of Wind_. Have you seen many traitors do that?"

Legend started. "Hold on a minute." He turned to Time. "Is _that_ why you call him Pup?"

If the situation had not been so dire, Four would have laughed. But the thoughts at the front of his mind were very different, as Blue's temper flared up in him again.

"But why did he run off? Several of us were in on his secret and would have vouched for him, and he knew it," he growled, frustration coloring his voice. Something Warriors had said suddenly came back to him. His voice turned calm once more as he turned to the captain. "You spoke about dark magic?"

Hyrule piped up again. "That would be my fault. Before I knew of Wolfie, I perceived, but couldn't understand, the magic aura surrounding Twilight. It was unfamiliar to me, so I discussed it with Legend. Warriors overheard."

Legend grimaced. "If you are going to say it, say it all. The magic surrounding him has been subtly shifting lately, darkening. That was why we were talking about it in the first place."

Time frowned. "Darkening?"

Hyrule nodded. "It was becoming more and more similar to what I know and recognize as dark magic."

This was news. Four frowned as he pondered this new bit of information. He had been wondering if Twilight's… unusual exposure to the tainted blood could hurt him, when he had seen him obviously throwing it up. He met Wild's eyes, and something told him they were thinking the same thing.

_More information,_ his analytical side needed _more information._

"What do we know about the magic empowering the monsters we are encountering? Do you get this kind of perception with whatever it is that works on them as well?" Four asked Hyrule and Legend.

A part of Four didn't miss how Hyrule's eyes widened, while Legend's narrowed. 

"I can't believe I'd never noticed that," Hyrule said breathlessly.

The smith turned to the pink-haired hero. "But you had." It wasn't a question.

Legend was silent for a moment. "I had. I had noticed his aura was shifting closer to that of the tainted monsters, but I didn't know how to connect the dots until now. I take it you are hinting that Wolfie's style of fighting might have an unforeseen effect on Twilight."

Sky looked confused, while Hyrule suddenly looked horrified. Four could easily relate to both.

"You knew. You knew he was swallowing the tainted blood while fighting, that's what you were talking about back at the hot springs in Kakariko," Hyrule said, voice strained.

The smith bit back Red's whine that wanted to escape him. "I suspected, but I can't sense magic like you do, so I had no way of knowing it was hurting him."

Wild made a choked sound. "He has been feeling increasingly sick, has been eating less and less."

The old man dragged his hand down his face. His voice, when he spoke, was so soft, Four only heard it because he was standing right next to him. "Pup, what have you been keeping from us?"

Four's heart clenched painfully. Time was always so controlled and collected, this tiny little outburst was so out of character, it spoke volumes of his distress.

"Let me get this straight," Sky began. "You believe Twilight is being… cursed, magically poisoned, by the tainted blood of the monsters, while fighting… as Wolfie. And something must be off with him, because otherwise he would not have run off at Warriors' words. But… what? Why did he run? What would be the point in running away from us?"

Suddenly the voices in Four's head all fell silent as the only logical answer to that question came to him. "He believes he has become a danger to us," he heard himself say. "That is the only thing that makes sense. Something happened to make him think he might hurt us."

The silence that followed Four's words was loud and ringing. Four knew he had left one, crucial word unspoken. _Possession._ As he drew breath to speak again, a distraction came in the form of Wind coming to with a gasp.

***

Wild, Time and Four had quickly slipped away to look for Twilight. It made sense for them to go because they were obviously the ones who had known about Wolfie the longest. They hoped Twi would feel safe enough to let them find him, but somehow Legend didn't think so. If Four's conclusion was correct and the ranch hand thought he might be a danger to them, he would never willingly let them find him, Wild and Time especially.

Wind had awoken suddenly, agitated, confused, and Sky and Warriors were still trying to calm him down. 

"You are safe now, little brother, you'll be fine. Just relax."

"Wh-what happened?"

"A bulblin, during the fight. Got you with its claws."

Wind blinked. "Oh yeah. I remember that." He suddenly struggled to sit up, but Warriors tried to restrain him. "Wolfie! He jumped in front of me! Is he alright?"

"Easy, sailor, stay down. You lost a lot of blood."

"But Wolfie! Is he alright?"

Legend saw Warriors swallow thickly. Sky jumped in. "We don't know yet, we haven't seen him."

Wind looked around groggily. "Where are the others?" 

Sky hesitated before answering. "Rest now, we'll explain later."

Legend saw the young hero's eyes slip shut again. Warriors, who had looked like he was barely holding it together while Wind was awake, sat back heavily, his head in his hands. Sky gently placed a hand on the captain's shoulder as Hyrule started speaking softly to him. Legend would have liked to go help, but he had more pressing matters to attend to. While his friends were distracted, he slipped away through the trees.

He hadn't told others he believed the arrows that had hit both him and Twilight had carried a curse. Even after his best efforts, his leg was still in pain, so it made sense that it was the result of magic, as any physical poison would have been purged by his ring and the healing spells would have taken care of the rest. 

But he hadn't had the time or chance to investigate further. 

Legend found a spot hidden from sight by bushes and undergrowth and sat on the ground. He uncovered his thigh and closed his eyes, concentrating on his ability to perceive magic. It took a few minutes, but then he sensed it. A faint, magical trace around the scar on his leg.

A _dark_ magical trace, having the same signature as the cursed blood. The same signature of the curse slowly overtaking Twilight. 

He hoped this meant that if he could find a way to cure his leg, they would know how to help Twi. Unfortunately, he could think of only one thing that would work against dark magic, without a wielder of purifying magic at hand.

Silver arrows.

He pulled out a silver arrow from his quiver. The problem was how to get the light magic out of the arrow and into his leg. Unfortunately, the quickest, most efficient and easiest method he could think of was… stabbing himself with it. If it worked on his leg, they could then worry about how to treat Twilight. He didn't like where this was going, but that was a problem for later.

First things first.

Legend considered going back for Hyrule, but decided against it. Hyrule would insist on finding a different solution, and they had no time for that, or on trying to wield the light magic himself, and Legend wasn't sure that was a good idea.

After finding the small scar on his skin, he lined up the arrow tip with it. He took a deep breath.

_No point in stalling. This either works or it doesn't._

He plunged the arrow in his own leg, teeth already clenched as the stab of pain hit him. Blinding white light flashed for a moment, leaving no visible effect in its wake except for the bleeding wound on his leg. Panting, Legend examined his thigh. The tip of the arrow was sharp, and had completely sunk in his flesh. Now to pull it back out and patch himself up, then he could try to figure out if it had worked.

A while later, his leg washed and tightly bandaged, Legend limped back into camp. Hyrule looked up and relief flooded his features. 

"There you are, please tell us if you step away, we were…" As his words faded into silence, Hyrule frowned as he quickly stood. "What happened to you? Are you alright?"

Legend's lip quirked. "I'm fine, I bring both good and bad news. I know how to help Twilight."


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...aaand time to move on. A bit of a change of pace in this chapter, but I needed a transition chapter here...

The traveller adjusted the pack on his back with a small grunt. He had been travelling since sunrise, and the angle of the rays filtering between the trees told him it was now way past mid day. This wasn't a good place to stop to rest, though, not with the unusual monster activity he had seen in the past weeks.

He wasn't inexperienced or unarmed, but his bow and hunting knife could not really offer much protection against bloodthirsty monsters, they could only buy him time as he fled. He was not a fighter, after all, but an adventurer and a trader. If the information he had gathered on the way was correct, he should find the village called Ordon if he kept travelling south, and he hoped to find exotic objects to bring back north to sell for a reasonable profit. He had never been this far south, so this should be interesting. Artifacts from southern Hyrule were presumably in high demand in Labrynna, where he hoped to return soon.

A strange rustling of leaves reached his ears, and he froze immediately, listening hard. After locating the probable source, he advanced slowly towards the sound, picking his way silently through the undergrowth. As soon as he caught sight of weapons, the traveller hid behind a tree, then cautiously peeked around it to have a safe closer look.

A young man was walking through the forest, not keeping to the paths. The first thing the traveller noticed was the weapons, a sword, a shield and a bow as well as a knife on his belt, and the chain mail that peeked from underneath the green tunic. This man was obviously a fighter, and the traveller was _not_ going to risk being seen. A second glance, however, told the traveller that this man might not be as much of a threat as he initially feared. The man was trudging along with some difficulty and seemed to be stumbling every few steps, as if there was something wrong with him. His clothes were dirty and stained with what looked like blood in some places. 

The traveller briefly considered helping him, but suddenly the man straightened, a strange dark red gleam flashing in his eyes, making the odd markings on his face stand out. The traveller almost fell back in fear and stumbled back a step instinctively, trying to put more space between him and the mysterious man.

A loud crack sounded in the forest. The traveller looked down to find a broken branch beneath his foot. When he looked up again, what he saw made his blood turn cold in his veins.

A large black and gray wolf stood in front of him, teeth bared in a menacing growl, an otherworldly dark light in its eyes. The traveller reached for his knife, but the wolf was faster, pouncing forward and closing his jaws on the traveller's forearm. 

His piercing cry of pain resounded through the trees, as the traveller's knees buckled from the blinding pain. The traveller thought he heard a pained yelp, and the pressure on his arm suddenly disappeared, though the pain did not. He clutched his arm to his chest as he fell to the forest floor, eyes clenched shut in both fear and agony.

A strangled whine cut off by a growl worked its way through the traveller's haze of pain, and he remembered the wolf was still there. He slowly opened his eyes and took a few seconds to process what he was seeing. 

The wolf was writhing on the ground as if in pain, or as if struggling against an unseen foe. The red gleam in its eyes that had so scared the traveller was flickering, mixing in with an equally flickering ice blue. The beast kept whining pitifully and then growling fiercely, giving the odd feeling that there was two wolves, and not just one.

The traveller didn't care for this beast, its plight or its pain. He scrambled to his feet and fled through the trees as fast as his injured arm allowed him to.

It wasn't until hours later that he even remembered the young warrior he had come across, and spared him a thought to wonder where he had disappeared to when the wolf had attacked.

***

The search for the Pup had gone on for hours, until the moon had set and the night had become too dark to continue. The risk of missing a sign of Wolfie's passage had become too high, so Time had been forced to call it off. The Cub had taken their failure to find Twilight hard, and that hadn't been made better by the news that awaited for them at camp.

"We have to _what_?" Wild asked, his voice strangled.

"Look, it might not get to that, I'm just saying it's good to have a backup plan," Legend hissed. "And keep your voice down."

Time followed Legend's look over his shoulder to Wind, currently pale and drawn and securely wrapped in Hyrule's arms.

The youngest member of their group had been distraught upon learning of Twilight's plight. Learning that the Ordonian and Wolfie were one and the same had been bad enough, as the young sailor remembered the hit the wolf had taken for him, but the knowledge that Twilight was now on the run, alone, sick and injured, had been too much for Wind to deal with in his weakened state. He had been crying for hours, first in Warriors' arms and then in Hyrule's. The other heroes hadn't thought wise to tell him everything about the curse and the magic arrows just yet.

Legend was currently carefully counting out the silver arrows he had in his quiver, and discussing how they should proceed. 

"The sun is climbing high already, we should get moving soon. I have eleven arrows, and it makes sense for several of us to carry a couple, to maximise our chances." He turned to the Champion. "Take these, you are our best archer."

Wild's eyes widened and he lost all color in his face as he stared at the arrows in Legend's hand. "I… I can't. I don't think I can do it. What if I kill him?"

"Use your smallest and softest bow, so the arrow doesn't penetrate too far." The Champion still didn't move to take the arrows from him. Legend sighed. "You know he would prefer death to killing one of us, don't you?"

Time felt the truth of those words in his bones, but that didn't ease the stab of pain he felt. Wild looked up, and the look of despair and _heartbreak_ on his face told Time the Cub felt the same. 

_"He would never hurt us,"_ Wild whispered fiercely.

"No, he never would want to." Legend replied, letting the silence after his words speak for itself. His face softened. "Take a couple. I'll do it myself, if I can, but we have to be prepared."

Time knew it should be him, he should be the one to shoulder this burden. However, much like Wild, he doubted he could actually do it when the moment came. He didn't think he was strong enough to let that arrow fly.

A faint rustle of leaves behind them had a spark of hope light up the Champion's face and a scowl darken Legend's. Time turned, a hand on the hilt of his sword, and moved towards the sound. Definitely hylian, still relatively far away. Time moved forward through the trees until he could see a man with a large pack on his shoulders.

"Hello, there," Time called.

The man seemed startled, a hand moving to his hunting knife, then answered warily "Show yourself!"

"I apologise, I didn't mean to scare you. We mean no harm." The hero moved where the traveller could see him, holding his hands up. "Please come forward, there are n… eight of us, but I assure you, you are safe here. Would you join us around the fire for some breakfast?"

The man walked out of the trees and eyed him and the others carefully before relaxing a bit. "No harm done. It just doesn't hurt to be cautious around here. The area is dangerous, monsters everywhere, I might call my trip off as a bad job and make my way back north," the traveller huffed. "Though I see you are well equipped to defend yourselves, just like that young man I came across in the forest yesterday. He was there right before a huge wolf attacked me, though I didn't stop to see what became of him when I ran for my life from that beast. Not before he got to my arm, though," he grimaced, pointing at his tightly bandaged forearm.

The shocked silence that followed the traveller's words was excruciatingly loud to Time's ears.

"You… were attacked by a wolf? After you met a man?" Time asked in a strained voice. "Was he wearing a green tunic?" 

"Oh, have you met him too?" The traveller asked before cradling his wounded arm to his chest. "That wolf scared me pretty bad, though. Huge black and gray thing. I guess I'm lucky it seemed to have a seizure or something after it attacked me, and that I managed to get away."

The look of horror on his friends' faces were mirrors of what Time felt.


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is for Okami_no_fude, because I know this is not the best moment and I wish I could do more.  
> For the same reason this is not beta-read, we die like men.  
> I hope it's still ok.

They had been searching the forest for most of the day, and the sun was quickly sinking, painting the forest in reds and oranges. Hyrule fingered the hilt of his sword, thinking the sight would have been pretty, if it hadn't been for the situation.

The traveller's words had given them both hope and fear. Hope because they had learned Twilight hadn't gone far and they now knew where to look for him, fear because it was painfully obvious the curse was taking hold, even though their friend was fighting it with all he had. The traveller wouldn't have been alive otherwise, they knew.

Suddenly Legend tensed beside Hyrule. "Old man," he called in a quiet and controlled voice. 

Time, who was walking just before them with the Champion, stopped and turned back.

"There is something. Right ahead, behind the trees." Legend's voice was barely louder than a whisper, but clear and tense. As he spoke, he pulled out his bow. " _Reeking_ of dark magic."

They were not far from the exact spot the traveller had pointed them to. If Twilight was really here, he was either staying still or moving in circles. They were not far from the gates to Ordon village, if they had interpreted their map correctly.

Now Hyrule could feel what Legend was talking about. Black, dark, strong, oppressing. The magic in the clearing in front of them was both horribly familiar and completely different from anything he had ever encountered.

"Weapons out?" Hyrule asked, trying to keep his voice even. 

Time nodded. "Shields especially."

The heroes cautiously picked their way through the undergrowth, trying to keep the noise to a minimum. Hyrule heard Wild's small gasp an instant before he saw what was in the clearing ahead.

It was Twilight, but there was something off that made it look like another person altogether. He was standing, tense, his posture fully erect but still menacing and aggressive. He had one hand against a tree, and it looked like his fingers were digging into the bark, knuckles white. Even while standing completely still, he seemed to be struggling with something. His eyes were flashing a deep blood red.

His aura was completely black. 

The magic surrounding the Ordonian was so strong and dark, that it seemed to Hyrule almost visible. He didn't even have to use his magical senses to see it. 

Twilight slowly turned his head towards them, his face an expressionless mask. Something seemed to snap, and the struggle was over. The look on his face turned to fury and rage, and he shifted into his wolf form to attack so swiftly, that Time barely managed to raise his shield and bash it into the wolf's muzzle.

The heroes quickly spread out, surrounding the wolf as he crouched low, growling and snarling. His eyes were narrowed in concentration, but Hyrule could see no trace of his friend's warm blue-gray.

The wolf was so outnumbered, he kept looking from one hero to the other, obviously looking for a weakness or an opening in their formation. The look of heartbreak on all his friends' faces was distracting, but Hyrule fought to keep his focus. He couldn't let himself see this wolf as Twilight, not now. It wasn't him right now.

The wolf lunged for Four, but the smith was too small to hold back the attack with just his shield. When the wolf pushed his shield aside with a shove, the shortest hero was forced to swing his sword up. The blade made contact with the beast's shoulder, but the wolf hardly flinched even as he jumped back and prepared to attack again.

Hyrule gasped. The blood dripping from the wound was such a dark shade of red to look completely black against the dusty forest floor.

Legend's voice was strained. "Tainted. We need to stop him." Out of the corner of his eye, Hyrule saw his friend nock a silver arrow. "I'll try to aim wide, just a scratch might do it."

The wolf turned to Wind, then, and Hyrule felt his throat constrict. He held his breath as the wolf lunged, but he shouldn't have worried. Time stepped in front of Wind, using the flat of his sword and the wolf's own momentum to flip him over and slam him down on the ground. 

In the split second the wolf landed, Legend let his arrow fly. The dart grazed the wolf's exposed flank, leaving behind a lingering trail of light which seemed to burn through the black fur.

Hyrule's breath caught just as a howl of pain filled the clearing. Not only the black magical aura has disappeared along the path the arrow had travelled, but… _everything else had_. There was no purplish magic underneath, no golden sparkle of living things, no green glow of life force. _Nothing_. The arrow had swept off _everything_ that wasn't… material.

The wolf was writhing around, trying to bite and claw at his injured side, but no one dared move closer. For an agonizing second, Hyrule thought he saw a flicker of ice-blue in the wolf's eyes. Slowly, the wolf seemed to regain control and stood on his four legs again, crouched low, still snarling. The rest of his aura was unchanged, there was just a gaping hole in it where the silver arrow had grazed, more blood seeping through the thick fur.

Legend nocked a second arrow. 

But Hyrule had _seen_ Twilight was still in there, he had seen the fight in the wolf's eyes.

"Legend, NO!" Hyrule screamed as he moved towards his friend. "It will kill him!" 

Legend grimaced but made no answer as he pulled back the string, pointing the arrow straight at the wolf's chest. Hyrule stepped in front of him. "Didn't you _see_ that? The arrow took his life force as well! It's too seeped in dark magic!"

Legend pushed him aside roughly. "Do you think I don't _know that?_ I'm doing this for him."

Everything seemed to freeze around Hyrule as he processed the raw grief in Legend's voice, the telltale gleaming in his eyes which spoke of unshed tears and loss and regret, the dejection in his posture that he wouldn't let stand in the way of what he knew he _had_ do.

"He's still in there, I saw that as well. And this is what he wants." Legend's voice broke at the end. "Now move aside," he said with more resolve.

"There _must_ be another way," Hyrule whispered.

They were distracted by Wild's panicked shout from across the clearing. 

"Sky, _don't!"_

***

Sky had his whip out and was trying to keep the wolf busy with it. He hadn't drawn the Master sword for several reasons, the main one being that he wasn't sure he _could_ wield it against Twilight. It was still the hero's spirit in there, Fi might burn his hands if he tried. Also, her purifying magic might be too much for their friend and the dark curse that had taken hold of him.

But he had seen the effects of the arrow, and he wasn't sure a second hit would cleanse Twilight of the dark curse without killing him. He couldn't sense magic, but he _had_ felt the _void_ the arrow had left in its wake.

And his suspicions were confirmed when he saw Hyrule step in front of Legend, when he saw the resolve in the older hero's eyes as he pushed their friend aside. His heart dropped to his stomach. They _were_ going to kill Twilight, there was no other way to save him.

Then he heard a familiar sound, and for an instant everything else faded away. He could almost hear her voice. But what could it mean? He couldn't wield her against….

The sword chimed again, then again, louder, insistent. 

Slowly, the Skyloftian raised his hand to the hilt of the Master sword. Another ping, urgent, almost pleading. Inch by inch, he pulled her out of the sheath and held her in front of him. She was glowing blue, brighter than he had ever seen her.

_What?_

A comforting sense of _right_ swept through him. He couldn't hear her voice, but he knew Fi wanted him to do this.

He heard a loud gasp from beside him. "The glow, the sword is at full power," Wild cried.

_Full power?_ Sky thought. Of course she was, when wasn't she?

"Sky, you can't use all that power against Twilight, it will destroy him!" Wild pleaded.

But the sword chimed again, soft, reassuring. She was trying to say she could save him, and Sky trusted her to do it. He raised the sword high above his head, letting her power flow from the sky to his hand.

He almost didn't hear the Champion's panicked scream. "Sky, _don't!"_

He moved his arm down in a wide arc.


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a feeling this is just a lot of pointless angst, but it nearly wrote itself, so have it.
> 
> I managed to stretch this out, so not the last chapter. But the next will be.

Legend was so cold he was shaking. The cold seemed to be bone deep, and the warmth of the fire didn't help. Not that he was sitting very close to it. He couldn't.

He wasn't sure if it really was a type of cold he _could do anything about,_ anyway.

He felt something soft and warm on his shoulders and looked up to find the Old man tucking a blanket around him, before sitting down next to him and letting his hand linger on Legend's shoulder.

"How are you feeling?" Time asked in a low voice.

"You are asking _me_?" the younger hero croaked back. "I am not the one at death's door."

"You are in shock. You are blaming yourself for something you didn't even do, and for something that might not even happen." The Old man paused for a second. "Also, not only you did what you had to, but it's what he would have wanted anyway. He would thank you if he could. He _will_ thank you when he wakes up."

Legend hated the doubt and uncertainty in Time's voice, clear as day even though he was trying desperately to hide them. 

" _I_ thank you also. You and Sky did what I could not," the old man finished with a whisper. Legend preferred to pretend he hadn't heard that. They both turned to where Twilight was lying next to the fire, pale, unconscious, still breathing but too slow and too shallow. 

The power of the skyward strike had hit the wolf full on, and for a long moment a dazzling light had blinded them all. When the light had faded, they had found Twilight lying face down in the clearing, blood trickling sluggishly through his chainmail and tunic from a deep cut on his shoulder and a long, jagged mark on his side. No one had breathed for another beat, before Wild had run to their brother with a strangled cry.

They had done everything they could, and he _had_ stopped bleeding, but he hadn't woken up. Red potions and fairies and even healing spells that had left Hyrule weak and shaking. Legend shuddered at the memory of having to physically restrain his younger friend and carry him away before he killed himself by using his own life force to sustain his magic.

His own life force that was so tied to the magic he wielded. Apparently, just like Twilight. This was what Legend thought was wrong with him, now. His _aura._ His magical aura, the life force that always surrounded him, which had once been so strong and vibrant, a flavour which Hyrule described as purple and Legend called deep and untamed, was now thin, pale, flickering, _weak_ , and completely missing around the wound in his left side.

Where Legend had nicked him with the silver arrow. 

He shivered and Time's hand tightened on his shoulder. "He will pull through. He's strong."

Legend wanted to cry. "He's hanging on by a thread, Old man. I don't know how he's even managing that. I hadn't realised how closely that weird magic that surrounded him was tied up with _who he is_ , but it's obvious to me now. That curse did more than control and poison him, it _ate away_ at his essence. And the light magic…"

When his voice broke, Time pulled him in a tight hug. "We don't give up," he whispered into Legend's ear. "This is what makes us who we are. So he will not give up, and neither will we."

Legend held out for a few seconds before he melted into the hug and clung onto Time desperately, trying to believe that Twilight looked like he was fighting this and not like he was just… an empty shell. A husk. Like the hero's spirit wasn't there anymore. 

***

The Captain sighed as he looked down at the little Sailor, nestled into Twilight's side, eyes open and unfocused. Sleep was proving elusive for most of them. 

As Warriors' eyes drifted to the Ordonian's face, a fresh wave of emotion clawed at his throat. It had been hours, and there had been no change. To make it worse, if he closed his eyes, he could still see Twilight's stricken face right before he had turned and ran away from them, from Warriors' own words.

His words. His fault.

No, he couldn't give in to his feelings now. He had to keep calm and think. There _had_ to be something they could do. Information, he needed information. After all, this mess they were in had exploded in their faces because each of them had been working on partial information. The tactician in him knew that mistakes were inevitable if you had to take guesses, though he didn't think he would ever forgive himself for some of those mistakes.

He heard Hyrule stirring in the nest of blankets where he had been sleeping since draining himself with healing spells. The Captain watched as his eyes slowly blinked open. Suddenly, Hyrule sat up.

"How is Twilight?" he asked quickly.

"Much the same," Warriors answered, watching Hyrule's face as the younger hero studied the Ordonian carefully through narrowed eyes. His eyes went up and down their friend's form, even though most of it was covered with a thick blanket. There was a _purpose_ in his examination, Warriors was sure.

"May I ask what you are looking at?" 

Hyrule gave a tired smile. "I am checking his… magical signature. That is the only thing I can find that is wrong with him right now. We have healed everything else."

"So… the curse is not gone?"

"From what I can see, it is gone. But… Twilight had a very strong… magical aura around him, which I believe was tied to his life force. And it's very faint now."

"Can you… tell me more about this? You and Legend talk about 'seeing' magic a lot, but I can't do it, so I'm not sure I understand."

"I use colors to describe it, Legend talks more of flavour or feeling. It's more of another sense altogether."

Wind sat up from where he was lying, obviously listening into their conversation. "So… Twilight had… more magic around him than he does now? Before he was cursed?"

Hyrule sighed. "Yes. Legend and I think the light magic that destroyed the curse took a big part of his… natural magic as well. The Master sword, as wielded by Sky, managed to leave something behind, at least. The light arrow… left nothing where it touched."

They were quiet for a few minutes as Warriors pondered carefully this new information. Suddenly, an idea hit him. He quickly turned to Hyrule.

"What if we could… give him some magic back? Essence of magic, if you like. Pure magic. Would this help?"

Warriors realised that hope had made him louder than he intended when he saw the rest of their group turn towards them out of the corner of his eye. 

"Pure magic?" Hyrule asked.

"I don't know what else to call it," Warriors admitted sheepishly. "During the war, I sometimes drank potions which allowed me to channel elemental magic from weapons. The potion was always the same, it sort of… enhanced _my_ magic, my ability to use it. Then I could use different kinds of magic, depending on the weapon I was wielding."

"You can use magic?" He turned to find the little Sailor staring at him, his expressive eyes even larger than usual.

"I was never very good at it, which is why I needed the potions. And it wasn't really using magic, I… channelled some through the weapons I was using."

"I didn't think there would come a day when i would hear you say you're not very good at something. I thought you were incapable of honest self-assessment."

It was such a relief to hear some snark in Legend's voice when he had been so.. forlorn and despondent, that Warriors hurried to rise to the bait. "Excuse you, my self-assessment is very accurate and honest in everything. For example, I know I am much better than you with a sword. _And_ fighting on horseback." 

His friend was quick to answer. "Oh, so your tiny brain allows you to swing a sword around. I am still not so impressed by what you call your brilliant strategic plans, though." Warriors hid his smile turning quickly with a fake huff. It was totally worth it to see Legend's lip curl into a small smirk. 

The Champion stood from where he had been sitting close to Twilight's head, his face pale but a glimmer of hope in his eyes. "So, have you got any of this potion?"


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end of this crazy ride.
> 
> I would like to dedicate this to my amazing friends from the SH LU server, too many to list but you know who you are.
> 
> And I obviously need to gush one more time over the wonderful beta power of Okami_no_fude, who made this fic possible by being so amazing, knowledgable, constructive, enthusiastic and all-around unbelievably helpful in every stage of my writing.
> 
> And to the people who commented, thank you from the bottom of my heart. You kept me motivated through this long adventure.

He found himself standing in an old graveyard. He didn't remember getting here, but it looked familiar, like he had been here before. The graveyard wasn't large, but was surrounded by tall stone walls. There were old, big, weathered white tombstones, overgrown with moss, the carved letters long ago made unreadable by time.

Time.

Something stirred in Link's memory. 

Suddenly, everything came back to him. The cursed blood poisoning him, the loss of control, the darkness, the brief flashes he remembered of his wolf form fighting his friends. Fear, dread, pain.

His friends, _his brothers._ He had attacked his brothers.

But where was he now? Was he dead? Was this what this graveyard was? Then his brothers had managed to stop him, in the end. The thought carried only sweetness, gratitude and relief. He wished he could thank them, tell them how sorry he was for putting them through all that, tell them how much he appreciated what they had done for him, especially because he knew it must have been hard for them. He hoped they were all fine.

Then he recognized the graveyard around him, and a cold dread clutched him again.

This was the old graveyard hidden in a sealed courtyard of Hyrule Castle. He _had_ been here before, once, during his adventure. This was where he believed the Hero… where he believed Time had been buried. That thought was like a punch to his stomach. This place held a whole new significance for him now, compared to when he had physically been here. Now that he had _met_ Time, flesh and blood. Now that the Old man had become a dear friend, an older brother, a… father figure. He wasn't sure this was physical, he wasn't sure _he_ was physical, he didn't know if he could cry, but he felt like doing it. 

Twilight had never let his thoughts stray so far down this path. He had never let himself think of the Hero's Shade and Time as... truly one and the same. The thought carried only pain, anguish and grief. 

If this was to be the resting place for his spirit, he figured he wasn't going to do much resting. He hoped he could at least be useful to someone in death, as the Hero's Shade… as Time had been to him. His thoughts turned to Wild, the only one they were reasonably sure came after him in their mess of a timeline. He hoped it was the Cub. It would be wonderful to be able to help him. 

So be it.

Just as he accepted his death and fate, in the same way he had accepted his life and destiny, a fresh breeze stirred his hair, carrying a soft whisper.

"Not yet."

White light engulfed him.

***

He opened his eyes with a gasp, and all he could see was black. Disoriented and confused, he failed and thrashed in near-panic. He felt something warm and firm on his shoulder, and a distant voice seemed to reach him.

"..light, breathe. You're safe, it's over! Just breathe."

Another warm and steady touch, this time on his upper arm.

"Pup, can you hear me?"

Twilight stopped struggling and concentrated on the comforting, grounding, _physical_ feeling of his friends' hands. 

So he wasn't dead yet. He couldn't run across space and time to help the Cub on his quest. 

Yet. 

He opened his eyes again, and this time was able to focus on the faces above him. The sight of his mentor and his protegè after what he had seen and felt in that graveyard brought tears in his eyes he was powerless to stop. His breath caught, a wave of emotion gripping his throat like a vice. A sob escaped him.

"Pup?" The concern in the Old man's voice, coupled with the way Wild's hand tightened on Twi's shoulder, nearly made him break down completely.

"I'm so sorry," Twilight managed to choke out. And he was. For everything. Being poisoned by the cursed blood, not telling them what he thought was happening, running off, _attacking them_... and for Time's fate he knew but couldn't talk about, and Wild's cruel quest, and for…

Two calloused but warm hands clutched at his face, turning it gently to one side while wiping at his tears. Wild's face was streaked with his own tears.

"It's fine, you're fine, we all are," Wild said with a wavering voice. "Just _never_ do anything like that _ever again_."

The emphasis in the Cub's voice which almost made Twilight smile and the small, shaky chuckle that came from Time were enough to drag Twilight out of his own mind.

He sighed, letting his breathing even out, then slowly tried to sit up, gentle hands helping and supporting him. He still felt dizzy and nauseous, but it was completely different from what the poison in his body had felt like. His back, shoulder and side were stiff and sore, but he was otherwise fine.

"How?" he asked. He didn't really need to elaborate.

"Can we talk about this later?" Wild almost whined.

"I nearly killed you with a silver arrow, then Sky saved you with the Master Sword," came another voice.

Twilight turned to find Legend sitting up from a nest of blankets which seemed to have been thrown on top of him, as he had been sleeping directly on the forest floor. He looked horrible, pale, disheveled, with shadows under his eyes. 

It seemed this was going to be a long story.

***

The chaos that had reigned for a while when everyone had woken up had been messy and emotional, but finally, bit by bit, Twilight had managed to piece together the whole story. He had also filled his friends in with his side of things, how, since running away, he had started blacking out more and more often, coming to his senses closer and closer to Ordon village. And just how much that had terrified him. 

He held nothing back. He told them about the first time the dark blood had made him sick ( _"What?_ What the fuck, Twi, that was _months_ ago!"), how he had thought nothing of it past making him physically sick, until Hyrule had mentioned his aura darkening after his first nightmare. He even admitted the terrifying sleepwalking episode. 

Everybody obviously already knew about Wolfie, and he apologized for not trusting them all with that. He explained how he got his powers and exactly why he hadn't shared this information before, how he was afraid an ability granted by strange and unknown magic, arguably _dark_ magic, might look dangerous and suspicious. His reasons felt weak now, even though he knew they were justified in the beginning. He now realised not knowing everything had put them all in danger, all for Twilight selfish, unjust mistrust. His secrets had almost destroyed the whole group, poisoning the thoughts of some of his friends.

Warriors chuckled nervously. "I'm not gonna lie, the last few days have been poor decision after poor decision, and most of them were mine."

"I won't let you take any blame for that, you were working with the information you had, trying to keep everyone safe," Twilight immediately answered. "The fault of all of this is mine, and the cursed poison I kept secret. I could have _killed_ one of you." That thought made him feel sick all over again. 

"You know, Pup, you were _almost_ a match for the eight of us."

He knew the Old man was trying to lighten the mood, but he couldn't let it go. 

"You were not aiming to kill. You should have."

Legend's sharp intake of breath was strangely loud after Twilight's statement. Suddenly, Twilight pieced together what Legend had said earlier about Silver arrows and his odd, withdrawn mood. Still a bit unsteady on his legs, he moved to where Legend was sitting and swept him into a hug, thanking him profusely for what he had been ready to do, all for Twilight's sake. "You had my back, and for that I will forever be in your debt," he whispered in his friend's ear. When they broke out of the hug, Legend's eyes were red and puffy, but he looked marginally better. 

"A lot of this might have been better managed had we been all more open with one another, but no one holds this against you, Pup. We all understand why you did what you did."

Time's soft smile only hurt Twilight now, as he remembered the graveyard, the Hero's Shade, the knowledge he was even now withholding from the Old man. So hours later, after having his first proper meal in days, he found himself sitting alone, to the side of camp, aware of the concerned glances of his companions. He didn't like to worry them, now of all times, but he needed to think some things through.

Even if the moment had been right to talk to Time about the Hero's Shade (which it wasn't), what could he say? 'You are going to die with such deep regrets that you will find no rest in death'? How could that make it better for anyone?

And Wild. Dare Twilight ask him if he had come across something like the Hero's Shade? A mysterious wolf, maybe? Did he want to know if he would succeed in retaining a cursed form in death? Was it a curse, if he wanted it with all his heart?

Withholding information had only hurt their group so far, and Twilight didn't want to keep doing it, but he really couldn't see how the knowledge of the Hero's Shade's identity, or his own realization in the graveyard earlier, could change anything or help anyone. It just felt like pointless heartbreak. With a sigh, he stood and moved back to the fire, where his friends were sitting.

"Welcome back," Legend said, his voice thankfully closer to his snarky usual self. "Glad you're here. There is something I want to say, but I am only going to say it once and I am not going to answer any questions about it. I don't like to do this, but I feel like you better know, after what has happened."

All the heroes turned to their pink-haired friend, everyone's features alight with curiosity.

"Let's have it, then," Warriors smirked. "The big reveal."

Legend glared at the Captain, then took a deep breath.

"When exposed to dark magic, I turn into a pink bunny."

The stunned silence that followed Legend's words was only broken by the sound of Warriors falling off the log he was sitting on, and by Hyrule's voice.

"You _what_ now?"


End file.
